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Five clusters of HIV cases identified in SA, Hispanics affected most

San Antonio is home to five clusters of HIV cases, the most across the state according to a spokeswoman with BEAT AIDS.

HIV cases continue to surface and although Tuesday marked National Black HIV and AIDS Awareness Day, San Antonio has a troubling trend with Hispanic men at the center of the virus.

Jackie Milligan never thought she would be working towards a brighter future after she was diagnosed with HIV in 2004.

"I just wanted to crawl in a corner and die," Milligan said.

Now she’s working to get certified as a patient care tech, a career she never would’ve thought a possibility years ago.

Milligan says that she contracted HIV from her boyfriend at the time, but she never knew he was positive until he later died.

She admits that she was sexually active and didn’t use protection because she trusted him. Now, looking back, she said she was naive.

Michele Durham, a spokeswoman with BEAT AIDS, says that it’s common for people in San Antonio to not get tested because of the stigma attached with the virus. That only results in HIV being spread further without people knowing it.

The CDC identified 16 clusters of HIV across Texas. San Antonio is home to five clusters, including the biggest, according to the latest report released by San Antonio Metropolitan Health.

Cluster 51 is made up of 27 people with HIV and they are all linked in some way.

"The bulk of the clusters in the entire United States sit right here in San Antonio,” Durham said. “What that means is that we have some strands that are moving along.”

Young Hispanic men between the ages of 20 and 29 make up the majority of HIV cases in San Antonio.

To battle the virus and get people help, BEAT AIDS offers free HIV testing at several locations across the city.

Milligan admits that the journey is challenging, but says that she's proof you can live a long happy life if you know your status.

"Go get tested, get tested," Milligan says.

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