Syracuse is painting the town red this week.
The county, city and AIDS Community Resources are all teaming up to raise awareness about the deadly virus which, 30 years after it was discovered, continues to infect more than 50,000 people each year.
Syracuse Mayor, Stephanie Minor says, "We're trying to draw attention to that to make sure everyone has an understanding of how you get the disease, how you do not get the disease, that it impacts every walk of life, every gender, every race and to make sure they make the right decisions."
Karen Hinson has lived with AIDS for 17 years. She says New York has more HIV AIDS cases than any other state and she spends much of her time trying to educate others, teens especially, about the disease and how to protect themselves.
Hinson says, "This is out there. You won't know who has it. It doesn't wear a big sign on a persons shirt that I'm HIV positive. When I got infected, my partner didn't even know he was affected. This virus is that obscure you can have it for a long time before you find out."
AIDs awareness campaign runs for five days ending this Sunday with the 19th Annual AIDS walk/run at Beaver Lake Nature Center.
