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New HIV Strain Discovered in Woman

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
,
AP
posted: 10 HOURS 17 MINUTES AGO
comments: 632
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WASHINGTON (Aug. 22) -- A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon. It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday's edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa," said the researchers, led by Jean-Christophe Plantier of the University of Rouen, France.
The three previously known HIV strains are related to the simian virus that occurs in chimpanzees.
The most likely explanation for the new find is gorilla-to-human transmission, Plantier's team said. But they added they cannot rule out the possibility that the new strain started in chimpanzees and moved into gorillas and then humans, or moved directly from chimpanzees to both gorillas and humans.
The 62-year-old patient tested positive for HIV in 2004, shortly after moving to Paris from Cameroon, according to the researchers. She had lived near Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, but said she had no contact with apes or bush meat, a name often given to meat from wild animals in tropical countries.
The woman currently shows no signs of AIDS and remains untreated, though she still carries the virus, the researchers said.
How widespread this strain is remains to be determined. Researchers said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere. The virus' rapid replication indicates that it is adapted to human cells, the researchers reported.
Their research was supported by the French Health Watch Institute, the French National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis and Rouen University Hospital.
A separate paper, also in Nature Medicine, reports that people with genital herpes remain at increased risk of HIV infection even after the herpes sores have healed and the skin appears normal.
Researchers led by Drs. Lawrence Corey and Jia Zhu of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that long after the areas where the herpes sores existed seem to be clear, they still have immune-cell activity that can encourage HIV infection.
Herpes is marked by recurring outbreaks and has been associated with higher rates of infection with HIV. It had been thought that the breaks in the skin were the reason for higher HIV rates, but a study last year found that treatment of herpes with drugs did not reduce the HIV risk.
The researchers tested the skin of herpes patients for several weeks after their sores had healed and found that, compared with other genital skin, from twice to 37 times more immune cells remained at the locations where the sores had been.
HIV targets immune cells and in laboratory tests the virus reproduced three to five times faster in tissue from the healed sites as in tissue from other areas.
"Understanding that even treated (herpes) infections provide a cellular environment conducive to HIV infection suggests new directions for HIV prevention research," commented Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
That study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Tietze Foundation.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-08-02 14:31:38

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Diora45

02:58 AMAug 03 2009

sblizz902,please do some research before you point fingers.Homosexuals have nothing to do with the aids virus or monkeys for that matter.HIV is a man made disease.In fact the United states was experimenting with viruses in africa and using monkeys and humans as ginea pigs.

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Teeny1665

02:49 AMAug 03 2009

There was one airline steward that AIDS was originally traced back to, but unfortunately this man, was never found again. It was like he vanished...funny how that happens.... So really who knows what would have happened if he had been quarenteened or not, is he real, or made up? Very weird.....

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Ray n Joy Farley

02:47 AMAug 03 2009

no the disease was started from a group of liberal so called do gooders. who used monkey tissue to rapidly try to develop a polio vaccine. they forced a whole tribe thru their chief to get inocculated and sent samples to several countries who used another variety of monkey tissue and aids was born. all these countries involved are adamently denieing any involvement.

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ByTheNite73

02:46 AMAug 03 2009

Yet another topic here dominated by Bible Thumpers.Good reading. Keep it up, you all do amuse me.

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ShemSim

02:43 AMAug 03 2009

there is no suck thing called "safe sex!" therefore: sex without married is SIN that will get you some day. why destroy your life who think it's fun? let me tell you, I have better life with my family get together and grow.. just ask Jesus come into your life and believe in him and all your pass happen in your life will be long gone by HIS forgiven because God LOVE YOU then start a new life from now to on....

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J9Neil

02:41 AMAug 03 2009

Hey sblizz902 - The most reliable report says it was a bite from the simian, not sex. Are you familiar with South Florida? We have 3-4 places called Century Village. They are enormous complexs. Literally thousands of apartments at each location. If you watch 20/20 you would have seen the story where, after alcoholism, the next biggest problem was AIDS amongst these heterosexual seniors. Oh yes, please send me the Bible verse that says homos and monkies are cursed. Why is it that the most off the wall comments always come from Bible Beaters?

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sblizz902

02:32 AMAug 03 2009

yes but it didnt really start there it started in africa from the monkeys its more like a curse from god on all of us.if ya screw monkeys gays,and anyother thing that goes against the bible your screwed and i just think we all cursed from fags and monkey ******* africans we all screwed anyway just another freaken nail in all of our grand childrens coffins

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dxxy4u

02:24 AMAug 03 2009

JYuzamas 02:10 AMAug 03 2009they need to have mandatory testing and all infected people are marked so others know they have a disease, that goes for any std.>>>>>>>>>>>>>> When the HIV virus that causes AIDS was first detested in this Country, THAT was proposed, because they thought that it was a "ghetto" disease. When it was discovered that it were spreading rapidly in the "White" Gay community in California, including Movie Actors, the idea was squashed. Then they began to treat AIDS like you have a head cold. No Quarantine, nothing. But if it were ONLY in the "Ghetto", Blacks that had it would be wearing Black Arm Bands, like the Jews wore the "Star of David" in Germany under Hitler, signifying that they had AIDS.

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sblizz902

02:12 AMAug 03 2009

im alittle clueless on the whole thing comes from monkeys?does this mean somewhere down the line africans were banging monkeys and thats how this started

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JYuzamas

02:10 AMAug 03 2009

they need to have mandatory testing and all infected people are marked so others know they have a disease, that goes for any std.

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A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon. It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report in Monday\'s edition of the journal Nature Medicine.