A spectrum of carrier states in human T lymphotropic virus type-I (HTL
V-I) infection is proposed. The suspected process of clonal selection
of HTLV-I infected cells results in the spectrum of nonfatal states fr
om polyclonal to monoclonal virus integration. This idea is based on t
he discovery that monoclonal proviral HTLV-I DNA was detected in the f
resh peripheral blood lymphocytes from some patients with HTLV-I-assoc
iated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), a nonfatal ch
ronic neurological disorder.