REACTIVITIES OF ANTIBODIES TO HIV AND SIV IN HUMAN SERA IN KENYA, GABON, AND GHANA

The isolation of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) from African non-human primates and 2 new human retroviruses from people in West Africa (HIV-2 and HTLV-IV) which are antigenically closely related to SIV indicate the importance of viral ecological studies on HIV/SIV especially in Africa. This is a report on reactivity with the antigens of SIV derived from African green monkey and HIV-1 of antibodies in 29 anti-HIV-positive human sera from East and West Africa. SIV shares antigenicity with the gag gene products of HIV-1 but not with its envelope gene protein products. Of the 29 sera 12 were from patients with AIDS or AIDS-related complex (ARC) in Kenya 5 from apparently healthy people in Gabon and 12 from prostitutes manifesting ARC in Ghana. From the serological findings it is conceivable that the antibody-positive people in Kenya are infected with a virus that is antigernically similar to prototype HIV (HIV-1) while those in Gabon and Ghana are infected with a virus that is closely related to SIV such as GTLV-IV or or HIV-2. To test this idea isolates from these seropositive persons were obtained in Kenya and Ghana. Analysis of viral proteins and genomes revealed that the Kenyan isolates were indistinguishable from the prototype HIV-1 group whereas the Ghanaian isolate belongs to the HIV-2 virus group.