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Maine CDC Health Advisory
March 18, 2025
HIV and Hepatitis C: Penobscot County Updates and Clinical Guidance Package
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (the Maine CDC) has been responding to an outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in people who inject drugs (PWID) in Penobscot County since February 2024. The first case in what was later determined to be a cluster was identified in October 2023. Most of these persons are coinfected with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and were unhoused in the year prior to HIV diagnosis. The Maine CDC is working with community partners and health care providers on further detection and response activities.
The U.S. CDC considers the use of the terms "cluster" and outbreak interchangeably with regards to HIV, reflecting the overlap in response strategies. The Maine CDC has shifted to the use of outbreak to better reflect the common factors between these recent cases of HIV.
In collaboration with on-the-ground local partners, the Maine CDC has assembled a HCV and HIV Clinical Guidance Package containing resources for health care providers to use for screening, treatment, prevention, and patient care in a syndemic approach that addresses the intersectionality of HIV, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and harm reduction services.
