Nationwide — Sherrod Harrison, an African American man from Sanford, North Carolina, is demanding answers after the Cumberland County Department of Public Health incorrectly reported that he had tested positive for HIV. After seeking additional tests that came back negative, he filed complaints with federal agencies and called on the health department to explain the error and apologize.
Harrison said he visited the county health department in June 2026 but was not specifically seeking an HIV test. After his visit, a department employee contacted his wife to reach him with the results. During the call, he was told that he was HIV positive, news that left him shocked and concerned about his health.
He questioned the results and contacted the department, which asked him to return for another blood sample. Instead, he decided to get tested at a FastMed clinic in Sanford. While waiting for the results, he also purchased at-home HIV testing kits from Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. Harrison said the tests all came back negative, and he kept the receipts as proof of his purchases.
On July 13, FastMed notified him that he had tested negative for HIV. He shared the results with the county health department and received a letter the next day stating that, as of July 14, the department had no record of a positive HIV test under his name. The conflicting information left him seeking an explanation for the original report and how the mistake occurred.
According to My Fox 8, Acting Health Director Heather Skeens said the department had reviewed the circumstances and examined its testing and notification procedures. She added that officials had introduced additional safeguards to improve the accuracy of test results and how they communicate them. Although the department declined to discuss confidential patient information, Skeens said officials investigate suspected false-positive results and laboratory reporting errors. Confirmed HIV diagnoses must also be reported within 24 hours.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that a reporting error occurred in Cumberland County between June 1 and July 31, 2026. Officials corrected the error in the state’s disease surveillance system, though the agency did not publicly identify the specific cause of Harrison’s case. He has since filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Office for Civil Rights. He also contacted North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein’s office, which referred his concerns to state health officials and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd. Harrison continues to seek accountability and wants the county to apologize for the distress caused by the incorrect report. “I want an apology, like a real apology from the Cumberland County Health Department,” he said.