A new recombinant strain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) that causes AIDS has been found in 14 gay men.
RIA Novosti writes about it, referring to the newspaper “Phileleftheros”.
The new strain, which has been named CRF91_cpx, was discovered by scientists from the University of Cyprus and Los Alamos National HIV Laboratory in New Mexico, USA.
“The genome of the new recombinant strain “is a mosaic of four HIV-1 strains: CRF02_AG, G, J and U”, the findings were published in the prestigious international medical journal Virulence (Taylor & Francis, UK),” the paper wrote.
CRF91_cpx was detected in 14 people with HIV-1 living in Cyprus. Epidemiological analysis shows that strain CRF91_cpx is circulating mainly among Cypriot men who have sex with men (MSM) who have been infected in Cyprus.
The data suggest ongoing transmission of this new recombinant strain in Cyprus with clinical manifestations unknown to date, the newspaper reported.