SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) – State officials now say 75 inmates at Southern State Correctional Facility have been stricken with strep throat, nearly twice as many as earlier reported.

On Tuesday, prison officials put the 350-inmate facility into a “medical lockdown” aimed at containing the spread of the sickness, confining inmates to their cells and halting trips outside the facility for court hearings. Initially, state officials said about 40 prisoners had been afflicted.

Officials say about 20 percent of the 350 inmates at the prison are now confirmed to have strep throat.

She says some were already being treated but that their test results weren’t known earlier.

Tringe says the lockdown will last until at least Friday, and maybe longer.

AP-ES-09-20-07 1746EDT