In Duvwe, Indiana, there has been an outbreak of HIV that dates back to the middle of December last year. The CDCP says that over 5-10% of the population is thought to have the virus, spread throughout the users of an opiate called Opana. Being a rural area, there is less access to medical resources, causing needle sharing and other unsanitary procedures occurring more often than in urban settings. The state and local officials are flooding the area with more resources and personnel to combat the outbreak, said to be most frequent among younger people who had not "gone through the height of the HIV outbreak in the 80's and 90's". They say, also, that illegal drug use is more common in these areas, because there is "not much to do," citing that use of these drugs spans multiple generations and is considered a family activity, with many people sharing needles.
This epidemic, as stated, is very similar to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 80's and 90's, however small it is contained. Rural areas, too, throughout American history have been less wealthy (and therefore less able to obtain more expensive medical procedures, such as pharmaceuticals) which may contribute to the re-using of needles in households. It is scary to see this come up again, as these diseases are not things that you want to mess with, no matter how small the chance. Hopefully the CDCP will do a good job in keeping this contained, so that we don't have another Spanish Flu on our hands.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/24/health/hiv-indiana-spreads/index.html
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