COLUMBUS - In the three years since the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified Franklin County as a syphilis hotspot, the situation has gotten worse.

        Reported cases of syphilis in the county are up 14 percent over last year, health officials said. In 1999, the CDC said the county was one of 28 in the nation that accounted for half of all U.S. syphilis cases.

        The CDC is sending the county, where Columbus is located, $150,000 to hire one full-time and one part-time employee devoted to sexual-health work.

        The CDC said it plans to help find, test and quickly treat those infected with the sexually transmitted disease, which is treatable with antibiotics in the early stages.

        Columbus must increase public education efforts, said Merry Krempasky, director of sexual health at the Columbus Health Department.

        One idea is a campaign to alert people to the disease - particularly the gay population, which shows an increase in cases.

        “We need to get people to at least get tested and be aware that this kind of threat lies within our community,” said Patrick Gallaway, development director at Stonewall Columbus, a gay-advocacy group.

Police union fights search to replace Twitty
Police retiree seeks Twitty perk
Tips for downtown traffic crush
Patton tearfully admits affair
Text of Patton's statement
In N.Ky., Patton's affair politics as usual
Patton No. 1 topic at NKU dedication
Politicians react to Patton's confession
NKU science building dedicated
ATF investigates after 10 pipe bombs found
Councilman revives 'jock tax'
Institute gives Taft 'F' for fiscal policies
More horses getting West Nile
Woman, 77, tells of theft of life savings
Deerfield's park land purchases questioned
Faith Matters: Winning at life
Graham mission gives to local groups
GUTIERREZ: Love and tennis on wheels
Judge won't return man's journals
Law firm donates $250,000 to Freedom Center
Livingston out on bond, back to protesting
McNUTT: Tour book guide to Oxford
Racers converge on Hamilton
Bank robber gets 12 years
Sludge pit plan rankles some
28 Ky. schools rated as failing
Around the Commonwealth
Paintball players to re-enact WWII battle
Artist finishes 88-barn tribute
CDC working with Franklin Co. to battle syphilis
Judge says Parma violated agreement with NAACP