HIV outbreak: Indiana governor extends program to combat outbreak

Rural county facing HIV outbreak 26 times worse than average

(Getty Images)

Indiana’s governor has extended a program to combat an HIV outbreak that is devastating a rural county in that state and is expected to get worse.

Mike Pence has approved a 30-day extension of a needle-exchange program in Scott County, Indiana, the Associated Press reported. The county has been struck by an HIV outbreak thought to be caused by drug users sharing tainted needles.

Scott County typically faces about five HIV cases each year, but more than 130 confirmed and preliminary cases of HIV have been reported, a 2500 per cent increase in cases.

The crisis is centred on Austin, a town of about 4,300 close to the Kentucky border, afflicted by poverty and widespread drug addiction.

Health experts have said they expect the outbreak to spread before the needle-exchange program takes effect.

Governor Pence initially issued an executive order on 26 March, declaring the HIV outbreak an public-health emergency and authorising the needle-exchange program.

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