Condom-wearing chile helps raise STD awareness in New Mexico

February is National Condom Month and New Mexico health officials are spreading the word.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the New Mexico Department of Health started the month with an Instagram post: “Wrap it up! It’s your health – Take charge and be safe! #CondomMonth,” paired with a red chile pepper outfitted with a condom.

The chile is one of the designated state vegetables of New Mexico (the other being frijoles). A recent study by Backgroundchecks.org. says New Mexico is the fifth-most “sexually diseased” state in America.

New Mexico Department of Health spokesman David Morgan says the agency “takes the spread and treatment of all sexually transmitted diseases as well as the number of teen births in our state very seriously.”