EXPERTS CALM FEARS OF NEW SUPER HIV STRAIN

New York: A day after the discovery of a drug-resistant, fast-developing
AIDS case in New York prompted city health officials to announce an alert,
leading experts said there may be little cause for alarm.

"There is absolutely no evidence that this is a super virus," Dr Robert
Gallo, director of the University of Maryland's Institute for Human
Virology, said. Dr Gallo is a co-discoverer of HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS.

A New York City health department spokeswoman stood by the city's handling
of the case.

New York health officials announced on Friday that "a highly resistant
strain of a rapidly progressive" HIV had been diagnosed for the first time
in a city resident.

The case was found in an unidentified man in his 40s who had multiple male
partners and unprotected anal sex, often while using the illegal drug
crystal methamphetamine. The man developed AIDS as early as two to three
months after infection, and no more than 20 months.

Dr Thomas Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, called the case a potential major problem and the
department issued an alert to hospitals and doctors to test for evidence of
the strain of HIV.

The strain was resistant to three of the four classes of AIDS drugs, and
the concern was compounded by the fast onset of the disease.

"It's a wake-up call to men who have sex with men, particularly those who
may use crystal methamphetamine," Dr Frieden said in a statement on the
department's website.

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant often used in conjunction with sex.

The health department quoted Dr David Ho, head of the Aaron Diamond AIDS
Research Centre in New York, as calling the case "alarming", and urging a
close watch for similar cases.

However, Dr Gallo said it was prudent to pay attention to the case, but
there was no evidence that the virus in question could be transmitted.

He said the type of HIV that may be involved in the New York man's case can
be particularly virulent, but it is difficult to transmit.

"This is not novel and the odds are enormous that it [the virus] is not
going to go anywhere," Dr Gallo said. What could change the assessment
would be if there were multiple cases of the virus being retransmitted, he said.