Absence of human herpes virus 8 in semen from healthy Danish donors

Epidemiological data indicate a sexual route of transmission of acquired im mune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) associated Kaposi's sarcoma. Recently human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) has been proposed as the aetiological agent for dev elopment of Kaposi's sarcoma. Further the virus has been reported in semen obtained from healthy men. In Denmark strict biochemical and microbiologica l criteria are used in combination with an intensive interview to select se men donors. Despite these strict criteria, HHV-8 may be transmitted to a re cipient and even the child by the use of donor semen. We used four differen t polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and one nested PCR to test semen from 100 Danish donors for the presence of HHV-8 DNA. All 100 samples were consiste ntly negative for HHV-8 DNA, while only one sample (1%) was positive for cy tomegalovirus DNA. As HHV-8 was not demonstrated in any of the semen sample s, we conclude that the frequency of HHV-8 in semen from Danish donors is v ery low.