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Disease Investigation and Partner Services

Disease Intervention Services

  • Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) interview individuals infected with a sexually transmitted diseases (STD) to obtain information about the infected person's partner(s) and also educate the infected person about STDs. The DIS then locate the identified partner(s) and encourage each one to get tested and treated for STDs.
  • Locating, testing and treating individuals who are infected with an STD, or at high risk of infection, helps stop the spread of disease in our community.
  • For more information, contact Liza Gabriel-Austin, HIV/STD Program Supervisor, at 716-858-7853 or Liza.Gabriel-Austin@erie.gov.

HIV Partner Service Program

  • The HIV Partner Services Program assists HIV infected individuals and their medical providers in identifying sexual and needle-sharing partners, including spouses, and notifying them of their possible exposure to HIV and other STDs.
  • These services, conducted by public health professionals, are effective at increasing HIV testing and identifying new cases of HIV infection.
  • Research demonstrates that prevention counseling can reduce risk for getting a new STD.  Also, HIV positive individuals, who are aware of their status, have significantly lower transmission than those who are unaware.
  • For more information, contact Liza Gabriel-Austin, HIV/STD Program Supervisor, at 716-858-7853 or Liza.Gabriel-Austin@erie.gov

Expanded Partner Services Program

  • This program uses surveillance data to identify HIV positive individuals who are not currently engaged in medical care and/or have no evidence of HIV-related lab work (CD4 or Viral Load) in the past 13-24 months. These individuals will be targeted for enhanced partner services, with the specific objectives of re-engaging them in medical care and notifying and testing/treating partners.  
  • These individuals, on average, have much higher viral loads (VL) than individuals engaged in care.  A higher VL is associated with increased HIV infectiousness.  Successful Anti Retro-Viral therapy leads to rapid VL decrease. Therefore, out-of-care individuals and those with high viral loads, are important to target along with those who may not know their HIV status.  A new STD in an HIV-infected person also signals the likelihood that a HIV-infected person is engaging in behaviors that expose others to HIV. 
  • For more information, contact Joshua Pisarek, Expanded Partner Services Program Coordinator, at 716-858-4960 or Joshua.Pisarek@erie.gov. 

Additional Information & Resources

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