Outbreak of a West African recombinant of HIV-1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Published in: Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) Vol. 39; no. 5; p. 570
• Main Authors: Carr, Jean K, Nadai, Yuka, Eyzaguirre, Lindsay, Saad, Magdi D, Khakimov, Mumtaz M, Yakubov, Shavkat K, Birx, Deborah L, Graham, R Ross, Wolfe, Nathan D, Earhart, Kenneth C, Sanchez, Jose L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.08.2005
• Subjects: Africa - epidemiology; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Genetic Variation; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - genetics; Humans; Male; Phylogeny; Recombination, Genetic; Risk Factors; Uzbekistan - epidemiology; Uzbekistan; Africa
• ISSN: 1525-4135
• DOI: 10.1097/01.qai.0000154244.92273.0c

This research describes the genetic diversity of HIV-1 in Uzbekistan. During 2002 and 2003, blood from HIV-positive patients in Uzbekistan was collected, and part of the proviral pol gene and nearly full-length genomes were sequenced and analyzed. Among 142 Uzbek strains, most clustered genetically with the subtype A strain common in the former Soviet Union. Most of these subtype A-infected drug-naive subjects (65.6%) had an accessory drug resistance mutation, A62V, in the reverse transcriptase gene. Thirteen of the strains (9.2%) clustered with CRF02_AG, an HIV strain common in West Africa. People infected with CRF02_AG were all residents of Tashkent and sampled in 2002. The CRF02_AG strains were monophyletic and probably descended from a single ancestor. Two strains were recombinant between CRF02_AG and subtype A, with each having a different subtype structure. The CRF02_AG and the subtype A elements of the recombinants were monophyletic with Uzbek CRF02_AG and subtype A. New full-length genomes of 12 Uzbek strains suggested that neither the subtype A and nor the CRF02_AG strains in this epidemic were mosaics with other subtypes or circulating recombinant forms. A genetic analysis of Uzbek HIV strains demonstrated the predominance of subtype A in the epidemic. An outbreak of a West African strain of HIV-1, CRF02_AG, occurred in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2002, however. The cocirculation of the 2 strains has resulted in new recombinants that are apparently unique to Uzbekistan.