title: Diverse forms of HIV-1 among Burmese long-distance truck drivers imply their contribution to HIV-1 cross-border transmission.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The China-Myanmar border is a particularly interesting region that has very high prevalence of and considerable diversity of HIV-1 recombinants. Due to the transient nature of their work, long-distance truck drivers (LDTDs) have a comparatively high potential to become infected with HIV-1 and further spread virus to other individuals in the area they travel within. In this study, we hypothesized that Burmese LDTDs crossing the China-Myanmar border frequently may potentially be involved in the cross-border transmission of HIV, and contribute to the extremely high prevalence of HIV-1 inter-subtype recombinants in this border region.
  
  
  METHODS
  A molecular epidemiology study was conducted among 105 Burmese LDTDs between 2008 and 2010. HIV-1 genetic fragments including p17, pol, vif-vpr, vpr-env, and C2V3 were amplified and sequenced. The subtype characterization and HIV-1 transmission were determined by both phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diverse forms of HIV-1, including subtypes CRF01_AE (41.9%), C (8.6%), B (4.8%), CRF02_AG (1.0%), and inter-subtype recombinants (33.3%), as well as dual infection (10.5%), were detected among the tested LDTDs. Phylogeographic analyses based on pure subtype revealed that 77.8% Burmese LDTDs acquired HIV-1 infection in Yunnan, and the others in Myanmar. Both the C-related and CRF01_AE-related recombinants from these LDTDs appeared to have close genetic relationship with those from IDUs in Myanmar and Dehong.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Burmese LDTDs may contribute to HIV-1 transmission along the China-Myanmar border. The results may provide some new perspective for understanding the on-going generation and prevalence of HIV-1 recombinants in the border region.
authors.forename: Yan-Heng
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yue-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences & Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China. zhangcy1999@ips.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Chiyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yong-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D002052:Myanmar / Q000453:epidemiology; D009790:Occupations; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult