CIA FACES THE AIDS EPIDEMIC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: November 30, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9
Office of Current Production and Analytic Support
CIA Operations Center ER 3877X-87
News Bulletin The Washington Post, Page D15
Monday, 30 November 1987
Item No. 1
JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATTA
CIA Faces the AIDS Epidemic
T he Central Intelligence Agency has finally
decided that it has to deal with the reality of
the worldwide epidemic of acquired immune
deficiency syndrome. The agency has sent out
urgent warnings to all its agents and has begun
routine testing of applicants, employes and their
families to identify carriers of the deadly virus.
Earlier this year, the CIA issued a special alert to
its spies in 15 countries, warning them to be more
careful about their sexual contacts-whether
recreational or on the job-with individuals who
might have the disease. The countries of highest
risk were identified as Haiti, France, Italy, the
United Kingdom, West Germany, the Central
African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya,
Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
We've obtained an internal report by the CIA's
Office of Medical Services, which reveals that the
agency "began routinely testing" employes and job
applicants last February. It has beeh using two
laboratory procedures, both of which check for the
presence of antibodies to the AIDS virus, which is
easier than detecting the virus.
The first procedure is a blood test called ELISA,
for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. If the test
result and a retest are positive, the Western Blot
procedure is then used. "Should the Western Blot
read positive, a second blood sample is drawn and
the entire three-step procedure is repeated," the
internal CIA report states.
"Like any laboratory test, there are false positive
and false negative results," the report adds. "By
doing two different procedures and repeating them
with a new sample, the chances of a 'false' report
are minimized. Nevertheless, the implications of a
'positive' test are potentially devastating, and for
this reason every effort is made to insure the
utmost accuracy of the report and protection of the
patient's confidentiality."
The spy agency's medical officers are testing
three specific groups, according to the internal
report:
"1. Applicants for employment.
"2. Employes and dependents over age 18 who
have physical examinations for official purposes
[such as posting abroad].
"3. Those recommended by a staff
physician-[such as] persons who received
transfusions of blood products in the period 1978 to
the spring of 1985, hemophiliacs and selected other
individuals."
The CIA has established a "protocol," or set of
administrative courtesies that are extended to
individuals "who have a confirmed positive test" to
the AIDS virus, now known as HIV, for human
immunodeficiency virus.
"Any such individual will be be informed directly
by an agency physician, and the information will
remain medically confidential," the report states,
adding:
"Applicants testing positive will be counseled but
disqualified from agency employment. If an agency
employe or dependent is HIV-positive,
comprehensive counseling and further medical
evaluation will be made available. Depending upon
the state of HIV infection, overseas assignability
would be limited as appropriate."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP89G00643R001000100015-9