Y. Fukushima et al., IDENTIFICATION AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMAN T LYMPHOTROPICVIRUS TYPE-II INFECTIONS IN INTRAVENOUS DRUG-ABUSERS IN THE FORMER SOUTH VIETNAM, AIDS research and human retroviruses, 14(6), 1998, pp. 537-540
Previous serological studies have demonstrated that some 60% of intrav
enous drug abusers (IVDAs) in urban areas of the former South Vietnam
are infected with HTLV-II. In the present report we have attempted to
characterize the viruses using restriction fragment length polymorphis
m (RFLP) and nucleotide sequence analysis of the provirus long termina
l repeat (LTR) region, RFLP analysis of nine samples demonstrated that
all were infected with the HTLV-IIb subtype. The HTLV-IIa subtype was
not detected, Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences demon
strated that the viruses clustered closely with HTLV-IIb isolates pres
ent in IVDAs from the New York City area. The present molecular analys
is together with the previously reported absence of HTLV-II infection
in North Vietnam supports the view that HTLV-II may have been introduc
ed from the United States to this part of Asia by military personnel d
uring the Vietnam conflict.