NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Yorkers are contractingHIV at three times the national rate, the city health departmentsaid on Wednesday, attributing the difference to New York’s largepopulation of high-risk groups such as gay men and blacks.

In 2006, 72 in every 100,000 New Yorkers became infected withHIV, the virus that causes AIDS, compared with the national averageof 23 infections, the health department said.

Some 4,800 people contracted HIV in 2006 in New York, longconsidered the epicenter of the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. About100,000 New Yorkers are believed to be infected with the virus,officials said.

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