Transmission Patterns in a Low HIV-Morbidity State - Wisconsin, 2014–2017

Identifying named partners through public health interviews is an important strategy for interrupting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Analyzing HIV molecular sequence data also can identify networks of potential transmission partners. Most molecular linkages in Wisconsin were among persons within the same racial/ethnic, risk, and age groups. Among named partner linkages where both persons had an HIV sequence available, 33.8% also had a molecular linkage and were deemed plausible transmission partners. Supplementing named partner data with molecular data might detect HIV transmission networks not elucidated through traditional public health interviews and identify opportunities for prevention in rapidly growing clusters of HIV infections in states with lower HIV morbidity.