A Seattle judge has ordered an HIV-positive man to stop
spreading the disease and to seek treatment after he infected eight people in
four years.
The man, known only as "AO" in court documents, is
required to show up for counselling and to protect future sexual partners.
The man could face fines or jail time if he does not comply.
About 50,000 people in the US are newly infected with HIV every
year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About
16% of the 1.1 million people living with the virus do not know they are
infected.
AO tested positive for HIV in 2008 and spread the virus to at
least eight people in 2010-14, according to court documents viewed by local
news media.
He had done so despite receiving HIV counselling - including how
to practise safe sex - five times, the Seattle
Times reports.
In a statement, the King County Public Health department said it
had only sought a cease-and-desist order against an HIV-positive individual
once before, in 1993.
"We're not trying to criminalise sexual behaviour
here," Dr Matthew Golden, director of public health at the county's HIV
programme, told the Seattle Times.
"We are trying to protect the public's health. And we're
trying to make sure that everyone gets the care they need, including the person
involved in this."
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