INDIANAPOLIS (AP): A top state health official says the dwindling number of new HIV cases in a rural county that's facing Indiana's largest-ever HIV outbreak could mean that epidemic is ending.
Deputy State Health Commissioner Jennifer Walthall said Thursday there have been 149 confirmed HIV cases and one preliminary positive case in Scott County and nearby areas of southern Indiana. That's up only about 15 cases over the past two weeks.
Walthall says health officials “are very relieved'' by that trend and hope the outbreak detected in December could be “seeing its conclusion.''
Nearly all of the cases in the county about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, have been traced to needle-sharing among intravenous drug users.
A needle-exchange program is operating in that county to combat the outbreak.
