Two new studies have found that HIV infections are rising at a significant rate among migrant Mexican workers.

A study of 600 migrant workers by the University of California’s AIDS research program showed that as many as one percent of them are infected. That’s more than three times the rate of HIV in the general American and Mexican populations.

A second study has found that the rate of HIV infection among women giving birth at Tijuana General Hospital was four times higher than that in the general population of either country.

Researcher George Lemp says that HIV infection was a minor problem along the border for decades, but the new data show that the rate of infection could grow exponentially. He warns that if public health officials don’t intervene and educate the Mexican public about the disease, Mexico could “rapidly become the next India or China - countries where the epidemic is raging out of control.”