Shared Needles, Sex Among Drug Users Blamed for AIDS Outbreak in Florida

Federal researchers have concluded that communal use of contaminated needles and sex among drug abusers contributes to the high number of AIDS cases in rural sections of Florida’s Palm Beach County, according to a published report.

The results of a comprehensive study of AIDS in the community also shows that more than 8% of the predominantly black, predominantly poor people tested were infected with the AIDS virus--more than eight times the rate for the U.S. population as a whole.

The city of Belle Glade and nearby migrant farming communities have been studied since a cluster of acquired immune deficiency syndrome cases was first reported by the Miami-based Tropical Disease Center in April, 1985.

The results of the study led by Dr. Ken Castro of the national Centers for Disease Control were reported Tuesday by the Atlanta Constitution. The newspaper said the CDC will publish its findings in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Thursday.

As of last Friday, 79 AIDS cases had been reported in Belle Glade and nearby Pahokee and South Bay, all small communities in the farming area that borders Lake Okeechobee.