The quality of the surf and the latest exhibition at the local Tate gallery are usually the main topics of conversation in the Cornish resort of St Ives. But yesterday, talk in the town's pubs and cafes was of a very different nature: the identity of the local man responsible for placing the town at the centre of an Aids scare.
Around 10 cases of HIV have been pinpointed in the past month and now all local people aged from 20 to 50 are being asked to undergo an HIV test if they had engaged in risky gay or heterosexual behaviour in the past eight years.
A helpline has been opened for those who fear they might be at risk and a clinic, whose location is being released only to those with an appointment, has been set up.
'I surmise that we are looking for one person who has spread this infection, either through naivety or criminal irresponsibility,' said the St Ives Liberal Democrat MP, Andrew George.
'It has clearly proved impossible for the primary care trust to pin down the identity of the individual through discussions with those who have become infected with the disease,' he said.
'The warnings by the Trust to the local people have been powerfully worded but that is hardly surprising; unless those infected are prepared to name names, finding the one responsible is like looking for a needle in a haystack,' he added. 'It is important we do find him: this person is presenting a danger to the people of St Ives as a whole.'
The response by the public suggests they are taking the situation seriously, added Dr David Miles, director of Public Health for the West of Cornwall Primary Care Trust, who has been tasked with dealing with the problem alongside Dale Travis, general manager of the Specialty Group of the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust.
'There has been a steady response to both the helpline and to the clinic,' said Miles. 'I hope this situation will not get worse before it gets better but it will be a week before we start getting results back from the blood tests we have taken, and only then will we start to learn the true scale of the problem.'
Toni Carver, editor of the St Ives Times and Echo, said: 'We are very puzzled at the way this has been handled by the primary care trust,' he said. 'It's not like there's a rampant sex scene in St Ives but the announcement has been so powerfully worded that I can only imagine they are trying to get a message through to a single person they believe is responsible for spreading the disease.
'There is no evidence that this is a particularly promiscuous area but we do follow the national trends in terms of sexual behaviour, drinking and drug issues, albeit rather slower than most other places,' he added.
Graham Webster, a town councillor who sits on the West Cornwall Health Watch Committee and who has lived in the area for almost seven years, said: 'St Ives is hardly Ibiza; it's just not that sort of place. For many years, it has been a typical British family resort. We only have one nightclub and although there is a little bit of a drug problem, there is no crime to speak of and virtually no violence.'
Suggestions that promiscuous sexual behaviour by holidaymakers is to blame for the situation were scotched by Michael Dooley, Labour candidate for the town.
'Holidaymakers don't bring HIV infections with them along with their surf boards. In any case, holidaymakers tend to mix with other holidaymakers. If local people are contracting HIV, then it is because it is part of the general social problems of the area,' he said.
A drinker at the Sloop Inn agreed. 'St Ives is a bit like Hollyoaks,' said the young woman, who asked to remain anonymous. She said: 'Everybody knows everybody else and is connected to them sexually in one way or another.
'There is a bunch of local men, aged from their teens to their thirties, who make it a mission to sleep with as many people as they can, without protection.
'There's a feeling that because this place is so small, they don't have to worry about the dangers associated with unsafe sex in the bigger areas. Hopefully this will make them reconsider those assumptions.'
