Information Concerning New HIV Strain Discovered In Western Africa

There are three basic known strains of the HIV virus which is the virus that causes aids. These strains of the virus are thought to have originally come from chimpanzees. There have now been reports of a new HIV strain that has been discovered in a woman originating from Cameroon which is a one of the nations of Africa. The woman is said to have been diagnosed with the HIV virus around 2004 after moving from Cameroon to Paris.

Reports indicate that while it is believed that the medications used to treat the previously known strains of the HIV virus will also be effective on this new strain, standard tests used to detect these traditional strains of the HIV virus are not reliable in detecting the newer versions of this condition.

While the known variations of the HIV virus are said to originate from chimpanzees it is believed that this recently discovered variation is the same as that found in local gorillas in the area of western Africa.

Although the new HIV strain is believed to originate from gorillas the woman that was diagnosed with this infection reports that she had no contact with area gorillas or any wild meat from the area. It is suggested that she may have contracted the disease from another individual that may have been infected as she indicated that she had sexual contact with several different individuals.

It is unknown the exact nature of the transmission of this virus from animal to human but scientists have not ruled out the possibility of gorillas somehow transmitting the virus to humans. Another theory indicates that the virus may have somehow progressed from chimpanzees to infect both gorillas and humans though it has not been determined exactly how this may have happened.

At this time it has not yet been determined how far this particular variation of the HIV virus has been spread it may still be somewhat limited to the area of Cameroon or may even be in other areas and still be undetected. Research indicates that this strain of the HIV virus has a fast rate of replication and may be easily adapted to the cells of humans.

Although this new HIV strain is difficult to detect because of the differences from the known strains of HIV, the symptoms that infection of this HIV virus is most likely similar in relation to the symptoms of the known variations of the HIV virus. This is the most likely reason that it is believed by medical professionals that the traditional medications will also be effective in treating this strain as well.

Scientists and researchers have indicated that there may be ongoing monitoring of the areas of western Africa in an effort to discover other reports of possible infections of this new variation of the HIV virus in order to determine how far it has spread and how serious the problem has become. This is a necessary step to determine how likely it is that the new strain has traveled beyond its original place of discovery.

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