Task Force Works to Identify Those With HIV

The Kanawha County HIV Task Force met on Monday for the first time since the CDC called the county’s outbreak the most concerning in the U.S. Since then, the CDC has sent in a team of disease intervention specialists to Kanawha County that currently has 60 positive HIV cases. Dr. Sherri Young, executive director and health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said the agents are helping with outreach and field work as they try to go out into the community to test people with their mobile unit. WCHS TV reported the team of investigators from the CDC have been in Charleston for two weeks, and one of their main missions is trying to locate people who have tested positive with whom medical providers have lost contact. They also are assisting in outreach. Moving forward, the HIV task force plans to get back to doing monthly meetings from here on out.