Alaska Battling Outbreak of Gonorrhea

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska fighting uphill battle to reduce gonorrhea rate, by Lisa Demer:

SPIKE: State ranks ninth in the nation as STD continues to spread.

An outbreak of gonorrhea across Alaska that began in 2009 is continuing this year, and health officials say they are trying new ways to curb it.

Between 2008 and 2009, the number of gonorrhea cases in Alaska rose an alarming 69 percent, according to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

State health officials began calling attention to a spike in gonorrhea cases in Southwest Alaska more than a year ago and highlighted the statewide rise in March. . . .