Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jul 2005
Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY)
Copyright: 2005 Watertown Daily Times
Contact:  http://www.wdt.net
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792
Author: Yomiuri Shimbun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/golden+triangle

HIV IN CHINA REPORTEDLY SPREADS ALONG DRUG ROUTES

TOKYO - The HIV/AIDS epidemic in China appears to be spreading along
drug trafficking routes extending from Yunnan Province, a trading
center connecting China to Southeast Asia, researchers said Monday at
National Institute of Infectious Disease's International Congress on
AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.

The team headed by Yutaka Takebe from the institute's AIDS Research
Center investigated the strains of HIV in patients in Yunnan and
estimated their relationship with strains in India and other
neighboring counties.

The researchers discovered two strains of HIV - one found in Thailand
in 1988 and another that was hybrid of strains found in India and
Thailand. They also found two new subtypes, both derived from the
Indian-Thai hybrid, in Xinjiang Uighur and Guang Xizhuan regions.

The researchers believe the strains have traveled from one of the
world's largest heroin producing regions, the Golden Triangle, in
areas of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin