WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Palm Beach County health officials said they are “99 percent sure” no one outside the department saw a confidential list of about 4,000 AIDS patients and 2,500 people with HIV that was mistakenly emailed to county health workers.

Dr. Jean Malecki, the head of the county health department, has asked the state to investigate the list’s release, which raised concerns among activists that the leak of confidential information can hurt the public’s trust in the government and discourage people from getting tested.

John W. “Jack” Nolan, the county’s top HIV statistician, accidentally attached the list to an email of monthly reports he sent to 800 employees Feb. 17. The list contained only names of AIDS and HIV patients in the county, he said.

There were no addresses included in the list, officials said.

The error was caught and 16 people opened the message, officials said. Computer experts have confirmed that at least 10 did not save, print, forward or store the list, department spokesperson Tim O’Connor said.

“It doesn’t look like it got outside at all,” O’Connor said. “We’re like 99 percent sure right now.”

O’Connor said the workers known to have opened the email had been interviewed and reminded of their confidentiality agreements.

Nolan may face disciplinary action, but not prosecution, O’Connor said.

AIDS service organizations said they had received only a handful of calls from patients concerned about disclosure.

Health department figures show 4,320 county residents are living with AIDS – 4,922 have died since 1980 – and 2,353 are HIV-positive.

Yolette Bonnet, head of the Comprehensive AIDS Program, said the incident demonstrated that the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS persists today, despite advances in technology and treatment since the 1980s.

“We don’t want people to panic and not get tested,” Bonnet said.