United States: An apparently rare strain of drug-resistant HIV, which progresses rapidly to full-blown AIDS, has been identified in New York.
The virus was found in a man in his mid-40s and authorities are trying to track down the hundreds of men with whom he had unprotected sex. Health officials said he and his partners often used crystal methamphetamine as a stimulant.
Health commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden said the rare HIV strain is "difficult or impossible to treat". Typically it can take many years before a virus develops into full-blown AIDS but in this case it was only a few months. Dr Ron Valdiserri, a leading authority on the virus, said: "We are not aware of another case like this in the United States, or elsewhere. The message to the American public is that HIV remains a very formidable adversary. We can't let down our vigilance."
The man was diagnosed in December 2004 and did not respond to three of four types of antiviral drugs. Some AIDS experts expressed scepticism about the new strain, saying that some patients progress more rapidly to AIDS because they are highly susceptible, not because the strain is more deadly.