A large AIDS ribbon hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington November 30, 2007, recognizing World AIDS Day which is on December 1. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention said on Tuesday it will soon release
long-awaited revised estimates of how many Americans become
infected with the AIDS virus every year.

Activists have been saying the numbers are sharply higher
and have been urging the CDC to release the numbers.

In June, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he believed
the numbers had risen from 40,000 to 50,000 a year, although
the CDC denied he had seen the new estimates.

Late on Tuesday, the CDC said it would release the new
estimates on August 3 in the Journal of the American Medical
Association.

“These new incidence estimates are based on direct
measurement of new HIV infections and will provide the clearest
picture to date of incidence (or the number of new HIV
infections in a given year),” it said in a “Dear Colleague”
letter.

“These more precise estimates are possible now only because
of breakthrough technology developed by CDC that can
distinguish recent from long-standing HIV infections.”

Because the system was new, it had to “receive rigorous
scientific review,” the CDC said.

“This process took longer than we anticipated, but, in the
end, it has produced estimates that are more reliable and
scientifically sound than would have occurred without the
independent review.”

In June, Fauci said the new counting methods were not
changing the overall picture of AIDS in America, but reflected
the long-standing rate of new infections.

In the United States, with a population of about 300
million, 1.1 million people are infected with HIV, of which 25
percent do not know it.

Globally, an estimated 33.2 million people are infected
with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS and 25
million have died so far. It is mainly transmitted through
heterosexual sex but also mother to child and via needles.

Knowing the precise number of new infections is key to
better funding for clinics, public education and drug programs.
HIV has no cure and there is no vaccine, but treatment with
drugs can keep the infection under control and people who know
they are infected can take steps to avoid infecting others.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Eric Beech)