African woman infected with gorilla strain of HIV

A woman from Cameroon now living in France is the first person confirmed to have a type of HIV originating in gorillas rather than chimpanzees.A new strain of HIV has been discovered in a woman from Cameroon. It differs from the three known strains and appears to be closely related to a form of the virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers reported today in the journal Nature Medicine.The finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence of 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 arose 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 Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, but said she had no contact with apes or bushmeat.The woman currently shows no signs of Aids and is not yet receiving antiviral drug treatment, the researchers said.How widespread this strain is remains to be determined. The researchers said it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere. The virus's rapid replication indicates that it is adapted to human cells, they reported.