U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature For June 5: AIDS First Noted

6/4/2002

From: Rick Reed or Tom Edwards, 301-457-2812, both of the U.S. Census Bureau

WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature for June 5 from the U.S. Census Bureau:

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5: AIDS FIRST NOTED

Profile America, Wednesday, June 5th. On this day in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control first described a new illness which, the year after, was officially named Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. The virus that causes the disease was identified in 1983 and named HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Later, research showed the first person to die of the illness in the developed world died in 1959. In the U.S., a total of some 420-thousand people have died of AIDS; around the world, the toll is more than 22-million. About 45-thousand new cases of HIV are reported each year in the U.S., and an estimated 318-thousand men and women are now living with the disease. These and other facts about America are available from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at www.census.gov.

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Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments ready to air on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "NEWS" button). For further information, contact Rick Reed or Tom Edwards, 301-457-2812, fax at 301-457-3670, or e-mail at rreed@census.gov.