HIV type 1 infection in Pygmy hunter gatherers is from contact with Bantu rather than from nonhuman primates.
To investigate the route of zoonotic transmission of HIV-1, we isolated three and seven HIV-1 strains from 449 Pygmy hunter gatherers and 169 neighboring Bantu, respectively, in southern Cameroon. Phylogenetic analysis based on pol-integrase and env-C2V3 sequences revealed that strains from Pygmies were 1CRF02_AG/CRF02_AG, 1 subtype G/CRF02 AG (pol/env), and 1 CRFll_cpx/CRF11_cpx, and that those from Bantu were 2 CRF02_AG/CRF02_AG, 1 CRF02_AG/CRF01_AE/A, 1 CRF02_AG/subtype A, 1 G/A, 1G/CRF02_AG, and 1 unclassified fH. CRF02_AG and CRF11_cpx have been identified in Cameroon. The results suggest that HIV-1 has been introduced into Pygmies through their neighboring Bantu rather than directly from nonhuman primates.
Ndembi
Nicaise
N
Department of Viral Infection and International Health, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Japan. ndembinic@yahoo.fr
Habakkuk
Yumo
Y
Takehisa
Jun
J
Takemura
Taichiro
T
Kobayashi
Eiji
E
Ngansop
Charlotte
C
Songok
Elijah
E
Miura
Tomoyuki
T
Ido
Eiji
E
Hayami
Masanori
M
Kaptue
Lazare
L
Ichimura
Hiroshi
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002163:Cameroon / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000235:genetics; D015684:Gene Products, pol / Q000235:genetics; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D019427:HIV Integrase / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D044469:Racial Groups; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D015686:Gene Products, env; D015684:Gene Products, pol; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments; D019427:HIV Integrase