title: Molecular epidemiology of HIV Type 1 in Ukraine: birthplace of an epidemic.
abstract: During the 1990s, HIV-1 spread rapidly through drug networks in Ukraine and from there throughout the former Soviet Union. To examine the origins of this epidemic, the genetics of HIV-1 in Ukraine were studied. Proviral DNA from PBMC was extracted and PCR amplified. Part of pol and nearly full genomes of HIV-1 were sequenced and characterized. The predominant genetic form in 163 strains was subtype A (66%), followed by subtypes B (30%), C (2%), D (1%), and a new AB recombinant form (1%). HIV strains from Kiev were diverse having subtypes A, B, C, and D. In Crimea, Donetsk, Poltava, and Odessa, however, the strains were overwhelmingly subtype A, while in Nikolaev subtype B predominated. After the near simultaneous introduction of subtypes A and B in Ukraine, subtype B remained where it was introduced while subtype A spread widely, creating the fastest growing epidemic in the world.
authors.affiliation: U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Magdi Darwish
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Saad
authors.forename: Alla M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Shcherbinskaya
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nadai
authors.forename: Yuri V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Kruglov
authors.forename: Svietlana V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Antonenko
authors.forename: Mariya G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Lyullchuk
authors.forename: Olga N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Kravchenko
authors.forename: Kenneth C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Earhart
authors.forename: Jose L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Debora L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Birx
authors.forename: Jean Kirkland
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Carr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000821:virology; D014455:Ukraine / Q000453:epidemiology