TABLE 1.

Detection of viral RNA in plasma from phylogenetically divergent HIV-1 group M and group O specimens with gp41 M/O primers

HIV type	Country of origin	No. of specimens tested	gp41 M/O primer set
			No. of specimens positive	% Positivity
HIV-1 group M
Subtype A
	Ivory Coast	20	19	95
	Uganda	24a	24	100
	Cameroon	15	15	100
	Ghana/Lebanon	6/3	6/3	100
	Total	68	67	98.5
Subtype B
	United States	11	11	100
	Mexico	8	8	100
	Brazil	19	17	90
	China	6	6	100
	Thailandb	20	20	100
	Miscellaneous	7	7	100
	Total	71	69	97
Subtype C
	Zimbabwe	4	4	100
	S. Africa	4a	4	100
	India	3	3	100
	Uganda	4	4	100
	United States	3	3	100
	Lebanon	1	1	100
	Total	19	19	100
Subtype D
	Uganda	26	26	100
	Lebanon	1	1	100
	Total	27	27	100
Subtype E
	Thailand	23	23	100
Subtype F
	Argentina	27a	27	100
	Brazil	4	4	100
	Japan	2	2	100
	Total	33	33	100
Subtype G
	Ghana/Lebanon	2/1	3	100
	Ivory Coast	9	9	100
	Total	12	12	100
HIV-1 group O
	Cameroon	25	25	100
	Spain	5	5	100
	United States	2	2	100
	Total	32	32	100
HIV-2	Ivory Coast	16	0	0
	Ghana	2	0	0
HIV negative	United States	41	0	0

^aOne specimen each of the potential recombinant with discordance in the env and prt subtype. The specimens from Uganda represent A env and B to D prt, the specimens from South Africa represent C env and B prt, and the specimens from Argentina represent F env and B prt. 

^bSubtype B viruses from Thailand are referred to as B′.