Blair County Prison inmates filing lawsuits with the federal District Court in Johnstown have repeatedly complained about rodent infestation.

Now, one inmate, Kenneth L. Harrell, 36, of Hollidaysburg, who is awaiting a jury trial on firearms offenses, knows the problem from personal experience.

Harrell, an inmate in the prison for more than 16 months, was eating oatmeal for breakfast a week ago.

At the bottom of his bowl, he noticed a tail, and parts of what, in Latin, is called a mus.

In short, he had eaten part of a rodent, and the experience left him feeling not so well.

“I was eating my oatmeal … and something was in my oatmeal,” he stated.

It didn’t take long before his throat “started feeling weird, almost like it was swelling in the right side of his throat.”

It soon became hard for him to swallow and gather saliva.

His initial reaction was: “It hurts and I need medical attention.”

He made a sick call at about 9:30 a.m. Sept. 24, but was not taken to nearby Nason Hospital until 7:15 p.m.

In his opinion, prison authorities were more concerned about taking his tray so that a video shot could not be taken of his bowl and tray.

But eventually, Harrell was able to obtain a photo of the tail and parts of the rodent that remained uneaten.

He said authorities took the tail of the animal and were supposed to send it to the Department of Health.

Harrell doesn’t know yet if that transfer occurred.

He spoke of symptoms he suffered after ingesting the mouse.

His blood pressure spiked, he reported. His throat swelled and was very red. He felt pain behind his eyes and in the back of his head.

He noted it became hard for him to breathe.

At the hospital, he was given an antibiotic and cough syrup, he stated.

He was diagnosed as having suffered an allergic reaction due to animal exposure, a condition called pharyngitis.

While he is now physically better, he stated he has been affected in other ways.

He refuses to eat off the trays that are used to deliver meals to the inmates. He obtains some food from the prison commissary, and nurses have been giving him peanut butter crackers to eat and protein drinks to keep him going.

The whole issue about what occurred to him was made public by his girlfriend’s mother, Martha Smith of Clearfield County. She reacted with horror concerning the incident.

“It’s inhuman, living in conditions like this,” she related.

She was told inmates wake up with mice crawling all over their beds.

Harrell only confirmed that, noting that an inmate he knew woke up screaming one night due the ongoing infestation problem.

Smith talked to the chairman of the Blair County Prison Board, Commissioner Dave Kessling. The commissioner told her the county is addressing the problem by hiring a new warden (to begin next week), hiring a new cook and bringing in a new pest control firm.

Attempts to reach the chairman on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Harrell has scheduled a meeting with Blair County attorney Daniel Kiss to discuss the incident.

A jury was seated Monday in Harrell’s firearms case and will convene on Dec. 15.