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One woman in New York HIV case pregnant

Williams October 29, 1997
Web posted at: 5:54 p.m. EST (2254 GMT)

MAYVILLE, New York (CNN) -- At least one of the nine women in a small western New York county believed to have been infected with HIV by the same man is pregnant, according to her doctor.

Dr. Neal Rzepkowski, who says he is caring for at least four of the nine girls and women believed infected by Nushawn Williams, said the woman is planning to carry her pregnancy to term.

Rzepkowski said none of the woman have shown symptoms that would indicate that their HIV infection has progressed to full-blown AIDS. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

The doctor said that according to his patients, Williams "was not that bad of a guy. I imagine he'd have to be pretty likable to get that many women."

New York State's Health Commissioner Barbara DeBuono vowed Wednesday to track down all those who may have had sex with Williams, 20, whom authorities accuse of trading sex for drugs even after he knew he carried the HIV virus. (icon 221K/20 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Chautauqua County authorities said HIV has been detected in nine girls and women ranging in age from 13 to 24 who had sex with Williams.

In addition, one of Williams' sex partners had sex with another man who has tested positive for HIV.

DeBuono said Williams has told health officials that, after leaving Mayville, he went to New York city where he had sex with between 50 and 75 women.

She said Williams, who is now under arrest in Brooklyn and has been moved twice since Tuesday to protect him from possible retribution, liked to keep records of his sexual contacts.

"This individual appears to keep score, appears to keep a careful record of who he has sexual contact with, and the New York City Health Department -- with the help of my agency -- will be following up on each and every one of those viable contacts he gives us," DeBuono said.

DeBuono said that every record of a sexually transmitted disease was being reviewed to see if Williams is named. She said Williams had used up to 18 aliases.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace said that many people still would have to be notified in view of possible contacts with Williams. Gerace also said that the identity of Williams as an HIV-infected person was released because of the special urgency of this particular case. (icon 213K/17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

"We do not want the community to panic," DeBuono said.

"We are tracing his movements and doing everything we can to alert the public about this individual so that members of the public who are scared and concerned and think that they may have had contact with him ... (can) come forward for HIV counseling or testing," DeBuono said.

She said the two principal areas where Williams sex partners are being sought are New York City and Chautauqua County.

"We had a pretty good sense that he was in Chautauqua. Then while he may have moved to another county in update New York -- in the Syracuse area -- we have no evidence that he had any sexual activity there," DeBuono said.

"He appears to have moved to New York city where we are investigating contacts there."

While the Chautauqua County Health Department normally provides AIDS testing to 1,400 people per year, over 100 people came into two county clinics Tuesday to be tested, most of them teen-agers from the Jamestown area.

Despite efforts by the state of New York to speed up the process, test results may not be known for more than a week.

Williams learned he was HIV positive in September 1996, authorities said.

 
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