The Maine Center for Disease Control has identified two more positive HIV cases in Penobscot County, bringing the total cases to 26 since an outbreak was identified more than a year ago. But providers say the actual number may be much higher. And other areas of the state are grappling with the same issues that contributed to the outbreak.
"We just make sure, like, triple check that everything is locked," said nurse practitioner Ellen Taraschi, as she wrapped up her day at Maine Family Planning's mobile clinic on a sunny day in Bangor.
"Basically, we have to batten down the hatches, because we've definitely missed some steps before, and things have, like, flown out of cabinets," she said with a laugh.
From a distance the mobile clinic looks like a moving truck. But inside the setup is like any doctor's office, with a check in area, lab space and full examination room.
The mobile clinic, set up today outside Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, offers a variety of health services from wound care to gynecological exams to HIV tests.
"For today, it was two," Taraschi said. "Sometimes we do 14 in a day. Sometimes we do eight in a day. It totally depends."
With the ongoing HIV outbreak in Penobscot County, there's more awareness in the Bangor area, where Taraschi said people are more likely to specifically come to request a test.
The Maine CDC has identified 26 cases here — an area that historically sees 2 cases a year. And providers said there are likely more people with HIV who are unaware, because the disease is often asymptomatic.
Amelia Hersey, medical director at the Hope House clinic in Bangor, said it has taken some time to make the public aware of the virus, and how to respond to it.
"At this point, we have good education in the community, but there was so much misinformation around HIV that had to be broken up first," Hersey said. "And not just from the patients coming in, but really, in the medical community, even, of just like understanding the disease and also like what the treatment looks like now."
When the outbreak was first identified in late 2023, there just weren't enough supplies, Hersey said. Pharmacies in the area didn't have the medications in stock to treat HIV.
"We can't actually be the only folks doing this, because we're not going to catch everybody we want to catch that way," she said.
The CDC said the majority of patients who have tested positive are homeless and already struggle to access medical care.
Hersey and other public health advocates fear that other parts of the state could find themselves in the same situation.
"So it's, I hate to say it's the perfect storm, but it really is," said Jennifer Gunderman, the director of Bangor Public Health and Community Services.
She said the factors that can contribute to an HIV outbreak are not unique to Penobscot County.
"We're not the only community that is experiencing challenges with injection drug use, with housing instability, with a lack of resources," Gunderman said.
And Maine has seen an increase in HIV cases. From a typical annual number of roughly 30 cases to more than 60 last year. Penobscot County only accounted for 13 of those.
"HIV kind of dropped off of Public Health's radar," Gunderman said. "We've been dealing with many other things like COVID and so HIV sort of is seen as a disease that just doesn't have the same priority."
Gunderman said other parts of the state need to treat HIV as a public health priority, and be prepared to provide ongoing care to patients, even when transmission rates are relatively low.
