"Knowing their clinical history, we can do no less than exhort our population to abstain from having any intimate contact with these soldiers," the statement said.

A spokesman from the Centers for Disease Control said it does not test military personnel. The Defense Department began doing so in 1985, and reported these figures Sept. 30, at the end of the 1987 fiscal year: 5890 tests positive in a total of 3.96 million, including 3336 positive among 2.18 million on active duty.

The U.S. Southern Command, with its headquarters near Panama City, had about 600 security people among its 10,000 personnel before the Reagan Administration stepped up its campaign to oust Noriega early last month.

In mid-March, the Pentagon sent 670 more security personnel to Panama to help protect military facilities.

The primary task of all U.S. personnel in Panama is to safeguard the canal until it is handed over by treaty to the Panamanian government Dec. 31, 1999.

About 13,000 military dependents also live in Panama, along with 1300 U.S. employees of the Panama Canal Commission and their 2600 dependants.

On Monday night, Panamanian security agents surrounded the home of Ricardo Arias Calderon, president of the Christian Democratic Party and one of Noriega's chief opponents. They remained there yesterday.