So far the HIV numbers have not been quite so alarming. Since 2011, the number of new cases of HIV in Virginia has consistently hovered around 1,000.

But a spike in HIV cases could be just around the corner, Jordan said.

HIV and hepatitis C are bloodborne pathogens that travel together. A needle that might infect someone with hepatitis C could also infect them with HIV.

“Hepatitis C spreads a little more easily through injection, so when you see it first, it’s like a warning flag (for HIV),” she said.

When Indiana saw a sudden increase in the number of new HIV cases in 2015, the jump was preceded by a spike in the number of hepatitis C cases, Jordan said.

Virginia is not alone in rising cases of hepatitis C. Similar trends are present in other parts of the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also expressed concerns that the opioid epidemic will trigger a rise in HIV infections in a 2015 report.

Speaking to the Board of Health at the Perimeter Center near Innsbrook, Levine said the best approach to stifling the increasing numbers of HIV and hepatitis C cases is prevention.