title: Phylogenetic characteristics of HIV-1 among travelers entering China from Myanmar: A retrospective study.
abstract: Due to the open policy of the Chinese government, a large number of Burmese individuals enter China at land ports in Yunnan province for travel or business. However, the situation of HIV-1 infection and its phylogenetic characteristics among these travelers remains unclear, which is a potential threat to public health. From January 2003 to December 2012, a total of 1,961 travelers were detected to be positive for HIV-1 infection at land ports between Myanmar and Yunnan province, China. From 1153 (58.8%) Burmese of them, we randomly collected 489 serum samples for HIV-1 subtype/recombinant analysis. Based on successfully obtained 223 gag-RT sequences, 187 of them were genotyped as 2 subtypes and 3 CRFs. CRF01_AE was showed to be the most prevalent genotype (54.3%), followed by subtypes C (13.5%) and B (10.8%). Notably, CRF07_BC (1.3%) and CRF08_BC (4.0%) were mainly distributed in travelers from Shan state and Kachin (91.7%, 11/12), but was not found in travelers from the capital city of Yangon (0/16). Additionally, there were 36 samples (16.1%) were preliminary determined as unique recombinant forms (URFs). The higher HIV-1 infection among entering travelers from Myanmar and its diverse and complex genotypes distribution suggest this bridge population may facilitate the transmission of HIV-1. It is necessary to have the strict monitoring on this population for prevention of HIV-1 cross-border transmission.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7100-7168
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Binhui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Care Center for International Travel Health in Yunnan, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yaobo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Shuwei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yajuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Care Center for International Travel Health in Yunnan, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: A-Mei
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Care Center for International Travel Health in Yunnan, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Center for Molecular Medicine in Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Xueshan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D002052:Myanmar; D010802:Phylogeny; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: burmese traveler; human immunodeficiency virus 1; molecular epidemiology