…Meanwhile, state prison officials on Wednesday said, eight state prisons, including three in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, had isolated or limited the movement and visitation privileges of hundreds of inmates because of suspected and confirmed swine flu-like cases.

Since July 16, more than 730 inmates at Chino State Men's Institution at Chino have been quarantined after 13 men became ill with flu-like symptoms, said Luis Patino, spokesman for California Prison Health Care Services. Seven of the sick inmates were confirmed to have swine flu, he said.

Ironwood State Prison in Blythe had two confirmed and four suspected swine flu cases since July 16, Patino said. Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe had three confirmed and 55 suspected swine flu cases since June 30, he said.

Patino didn't immediately know how many inmates were being quarantined at Ironwood or Chuckawalla…

Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP) returned to normal programming on March 19, after the institution was closed to new inmates, visitors and volunteers in order to aid custody and health care staff in containing a flu outbreak.

Since March 7, CVSP restricted all inmate movement, stopped inmate transfers to and from the institution, and suspended attorney and regular visiting to limit the exposure to the community and unaffected California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation institutions.

Since February 23, medical staff at CVSP evaluated 805 inmates who had fever, cough and body aches. In total, 12 inmates required hospitalization; two are still in the hospital. Two inmate deaths on March 1 and March 3 continue to be investigated to determine if they were related to influenza. No new cases of the illness have been reported since March 15…