CDC: 1 in 2 black gay men in U.S. will be diagnosed with HIV

NEW YORK -- About half of gay and bisexual black men will be diagnosed with the AIDS virus in their lifetime, according to new government estimates.

Overall, for the average American, the odds of an HIV infection is 1 in 99 and has been declining.

But the risk varies widely for different groups. For example, the projection is 1 in 2 for gay black men but fewer than 1 in 2,500 for heterosexual white men.

"The differences are stark," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC released the estimates at a Boston medical conference Tuesday.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is spread mainly through sex and sharing needles for injecting drugs. In the U.S., infections have long been most common in men who have sex with men. Since AIDS was identified more than 30 years ago, medicines have changed it from a death sentence to a chronic threat.

The report provides an unusually vivid picture of what's been happening with HIV infections. The estimates were calculated from HIV diagnosis and death figures from 2009 through 2013. New HIV infections have been falling in the United States, to about 40,000 annually.