New HIV strain discovered in Cameroon

French researchers are reporting that a woman from the African nation of Cameroon has a new strain of HIV that may have originated from gorillas, according to the August 3 issue of Nature Medicine. The researchers said the new strain is closely related to gorilla simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVgor. They said it shows no evidence of recombination with other HIV-1 lineages and appears to be the prototype of a new HIV-1 lineage that is distinct from HIV-1 groups M, N and O. The woman has no symptoms of HIV infection, is well and it is believed she was infected by another person, not an animal. The findings suggest that gorillas as well as chimpanzees are likely sources of HIV and that the newly discovered gorilla virus is circulating among people, according to a Reuters report. In the report, the researchers propose to designate the new strain HIV-1 group P. They note that this new finding underscores the continuing importance of continuing to carefully track HIV for emerging variant strains.



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