The report shows that in 2009, 3.2 percent of Washingtonians over the age of 12 were living with HIV/AIDS, which is an infection rate higher than in many developing nations (the WHO says anything greater than 1 percent is an epidemic). That's about 16,721 people. Of that number:

• 72.1 percent of patients were male
• 27.9 percent were female
• 75.2 percent were African American (accounting for 69.1 percent among males and 99.1 percent among females)
• Residents between 40 and 49 years old have the highest infection rate among District residents (7,393 per 100,000 residents)

There were some improvements over previous years' bleak statistics. Seventy-five percent of patients sought treatment within three months of being diagnosed. In 2005, barely 58 percent were getting treatment at that point. Also, the number of deaths from HIV and AIDS dropped by over half. In 2005, there were 326 deaths from the disease. In 2009, only 153. Of those diagnosed with HIV, only 24.2 percent have progressed into full-blown AIDS.

"Our newest update on the state of the HIV epidemic gives new inspiration to our efforts as One City – government and community working together – to fight HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia," says Mayor Vincent Gray. "We are getting people diagnosed earlier and into care and treatment faster for their health, thereby reducing the chances that others will get infected."

Free treatment has doubled since 2007, four million free condoms were distributed last year, and the District's needle-exchange program extracted 320,000 needles from circulation.

D.C. supported 110,000 HIV tests last year, triple the amount from 2006. HIV testing in the Department of Motor Vehicles and income-maintenance centers have started or are being set up now to maintain the pace of 2010's progress.

Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer

Ack! WTOP does a good job today freaking out people with its tips to avoid bedbugs. New York City seems to be in the midst in an uptick of bedbug paranoia: The blood-sucking critters have found homes at Abercombie & Fitch and Hollister! They not only strike poor hipsters in Brooklyn; the rich on Manhattan's Upper East Side get them, too!

But what about D.C.? Certainly, there have been reports and horror stories. There's even an online bedbug registry for the D.C. area, which means 'TOP's warning may not have been entirely just for show.

Last year, Washington City Paper examined D.C.'s bedbug problem: "Bedbugs are the vampires of the insect class—nocturnal, sanguivorous, and legendarily hard to kill." The D.C. Department of Health later held a citywide bedbug summit at One Judiciary Square aimed at sparking a "dialogue on creative and effective approaches to dealing with bedbugs." There's even a helpful Department of Health video on what you can do to avoid being a bedbug victim.

Look on the brighter side, it's a good thing that Metrorail doesn't have wooden benches where bedbugs can hide. That doesn't mean they can't hang out on the bodies of your fellow commuters, though. Happy travels, D.C., and sleep tight!

The hunt for a man who stumbled upon a (most likely) oddly-behaving, perhaps even frothing, raccoon in the 1300 block of Shepherd Street NW last week—and carried it around for a while—is still on. The D.C. Department of Health (DOH) is searching for the man because the raccoon had rabies, and the man may be infected. Department spokesperson Dena Iverson says she doesn't know why the man picked up the raccoon—but says a witness spotted him doing it. The witness believes the man was restraining the animal.

Asked for a description of the raccoon whisperer, Iverson says via email: "The unknown individual may be Hispanic or light skinned African American and was wearing a baseball cap." Not much of a description, but hey, add a raccoon bite and rabies symptoms (like delirium) to that and you've got a chance of spotting the guy. Despite all the fliers DOH has pumped out, it hasn't received any tips about the potentially rabid man's whereabouts. Come on,  people!

So far, there have been 21 cases of rabies in the District in 2010. One of the carriers was a bat, another a feral cat, another a fox—the rest have been raccoons.

Photo by Alan Vernon Creative Commons Attribution License

The D.C. Department of Health is worried about a man who picked up a raccoon on March 18. The encounter has prompted the distribution of a strangely worded flier, which comes to us via Prince of Petworth.

Evidently, a guy and a raccoon crossed paths in the 1300 block of  Shepherd Street NW. For some reason, the man picked up the animal and carried it around for a while. Unfortunately for him, the raccoon was later determined to be rabid. "The fliers were posted because we have been unable to locate him," says DOH spokesperson Dena Iverson in an email.

Why are they trying so hard to find him? Because, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, rabies is this dangerous: "The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death." The disease, which is usually transmitted by an animal bite, inspires funky symptoms. Though it starts off like the flu, rabies eventually progresses into "symptoms of cerebral dysfunction" like anxiety confusion and agitation. Next is stuff like delirium and hallucinations. After that, you're pretty much screwed: "Once clinical signs of rabies appear," says the CDC, "the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive."

Like the flier says (sort of), anyone who knows where the mysterious raccoon man is should call D.C. Animal Control at (202) 576-6664 or the Department of Health at (202) 535-2323. His life may depend on it.

The District's Department of Health ordered an immediate closure of the store after a routine inspection showed critical (and noncritical) health violations—including a mouse tail sticking out from a storage rack and dried blood on the meat refrigerator.

City Desk obtained the "Food Establishment Inspection Report," available for viewing here. Some highlights:

"Bag of rice cakes has been eaten into with rodent droppings next to bag."

"Seafood salad and crab dip held at improper temperature."

"Rodent droppings observed in the bakery in a corner next to the walk-in refrigerator. Also droppings observed next to the Carvel freezer, throughout the produce walk-in refrigerator and along the walls in the rear storage area floor."

"A strong odor of mouse or rat urine detected in the rear storage area along the floor."

"Tail of mouse was protruding from under one of the racks."

"Dried blood on meat refrigerator (open display) shelves."

"The thermometer in the cheese refrigerator reads 58F while it was measured at 37F (by me) and the meat walk-in thermometer reads -8F and no items are frozen. I measured the temperature at 41F."

The inspector also found "food and trash on floors in rear storage area," "holes in the wall along floor in walk-in refrigerator where rodent droppings were observed," and "unclean handwashing sinks."

Safeway spokesperson Craig Muckle could not immediately be reached.

The indoor pool at the University of the District of Columbia was closed Mar. 4 “for leaks,” according to DOH spokesperson Dena Iverson. Apparently, water has been seeping out of the pool and into the ground for years prior to the shutdown, says UDC spokesperson Alan Etter, who says school officials have hired a contractor and hope to reopen the pool next spring.

“For years, they’d patch it,” he says. Now, “they just want to fix it right.”

The other four pools closed this year were inside apartment complexes, and the managers are none too eager to talk about their public shaming.

Eliot Bernold, manager at Brookland Manor, blames bureaucratic red tape for the June 25 closing at his complex on 14th Street NE near Rhode Island Avenue. 

“It was one day when there was a bureaucratic issue that was resolved within a few days,” says Bernold, before adding testily, “I have no more comment.”

Bernold was downright cordial, however, compared to the response from the Capitol Park Plaza apartments in Southwest, where manger Pat Rooks hung up the phone after insisting her pool was the victim of false allegations.

“There was nothing wrong with the pool. Someone made an accusation so the pool was closed for the day. But they reopened it,” Rooks says.

We’re still waiting to hear back from Iverson to confirm Rooks’ and Bernold’s characterizations of those two closings. About 48 hours after we first starting pestering DOH to check its records, Iverson said the department was still “investigating.” She did not respond to follow up question inquiring as to what there was to investigate since the closures took place some time ago.

Meanwhile, managers at two ritzier complexes—Vaughan Place at McLean Gardens and Market Square West—did not return phone calls.

Vaughan Place, which has a Web site prominently displaying a photo of a guy diving into clear blue pool water, was closed on July 21, according to the health department. Officials shut down the pool at Market Square West, near the Mall, back in June and still haven’t signed off on its reopening, according to Iverson.

The summit is skedded for March 27 from 10:00 am to 3 pm at 441 4th Street NW, Room 1107. Get ready for a "dialogue on creative and effective approaches to dealing with bedbugs."