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Pitt County health staff report steady STD rates, notable 2024 communicable disease cases
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Summary
Britney Kinder, communicable disease supervisor at the Pitt County Health Department, told the Board of Health at its November meeting that sexually transmitted disease rates for 2024 remain high and the department has stepped up case finding and treatment efforts.
Britney Kinder, communicable disease supervisor at the Pitt County Health Department, told the Board of Health at its November meeting that sexually transmitted disease rates for 2024 remain high and the department has stepped up case finding and treatment efforts.
Kinder said county STD data are now available on the Pitt County website and that chlamydia and gonorrhea “are pretty consistently, unfortunately, still kind of high” through 2024. She reported syphilis and latent syphilis have remained elevated and that disease intervention staff work to link people to care and treatment.
The report included other communicable-disease highlights from 2024. Kinder described a Vibrio vulnificus infection that followed ingestion of raw shrimp and resulted in hospital care and leg amputation. She warned residents about raw shellfish in holiday months, saying, “It’s not. So please don't eat raw oysters or raw seafood so that we don't have to call you and say, hey, you got a real bad infection.”
Kinder also reported two West Nile virus hospitalizations, one of which was fatal, a case of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease identified after the individual died, two raccoon rabies incidents reported in 2024, and a tuberculosis case in the fall linked to a 2023 case. Pertussis appeared in five cases last year; none resulted in ongoing community transmission, she said.
The department highlighted a new hepatitis bridge-counselor position to engage people with hepatitis C and hepatitis B into treatment and closer coordination with the local infectious-disease clinic. Kinder emphasized prevention and education efforts, including immunization clinics for school entry. She credited immunization nursing supervisor Kayla Manning and school nurses for outreach that supported 286 students returning to school in the 2023–24 school year.
Board members had no formal action tied to the communicable-disease report; the presentation was informational.
Kinder and health department staff said surveillance screenshots and charts from the county CHIP system are posted on the Pitt County website for public review.
