A 33-year-old Brevard County, Fla. Detention Center inmate seeking treatment for a small spider bite was quarantined Monday after testing positive for an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus bacteria skin infection.

The inmate, initially housed in a cellblock designed for 16 people but holding 46, was reassigned to the medical ward where he was being administered a more potent round of antibiotics for the infection which can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, officials said.

The infection, which is not typically fatal, can present itself through boils, open wounds or inflamed skin and is spread through direct contact or conditions where there is poor hygiene.

"His cellmates have been examined and show no signs of wounds or sores," said Cmdr. Terry Altman, who oversees the facility.  She added that the roommates were showered and had their linens washed and mattresses scrubbed. Altman also had fact sheets explaining the disease distributed to corrections officers and inmates in the Pod 300, the maximum security wing of the jail.

Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA as it's called, is a bacteria that can commonly be found in places such as the nose. It is resistant to several types of antibiotics.

Dr. Heidar Heshmati, the director of the Brevard County Health Department, said the bacteria which causes MRSA is common and routinely is reported in nursing homes or facilities such as jails.

The infected inmate has been at the county jail for six months and is being held on a DUI charge and was expected to be extradited to North Carolina on a fugitive warrant, officials said.

The inmate was initially being treated for what medical officials at the jail said was a spider bite.

There have been at least a dozen reports in recent weeks of inmates at the overcrowded facility complaining of bites from hunter and wolf spiders.

The inmate's wound, described as small, did not appear to be healing and he was later tested for MRSA. That test, which takes six to seven days to complete, returned Monday with positive results.