Nationally, in 2001, North Carolina was among the five states with the highest number of HIV infection reports (excluding AIDS cases) from non-metropolitan areas.

  Since the early 1990s, about 25 percent of North Carolina's HIV disease reports have consistently come from rural, or non-metropolitan, areas.

  In 2003, 2,100 new individuals were reported with an HIV diagnosis (HIV disease) in NC. N.C. has had increases in reports for the last three years.

  North Carolina's overall rate of HIV infection in 2003 was 25.2 per 100,000.

  The cumulative number of individuals reported with HIV through December 31, 2003 in North Carolina was 25,813 persons.