Yaounde, 2 Aug-(ANA)-A new strain of the HIV virus has been discovered in a 62-year-old woman from Cameroon, West Africa.
Only three strains of the virus that causes Aids were previously known, all from chimpanzees.
But the new form of HIV, discovered by researchers from the University of Rouen in France, appears to be closer to a strain found in wild gorillas.
The team think it came from gorilla-to-human transmission - but the patient said she had no contact with apes.
The woman had moved from Paris to near the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde, but insists she never ate wild bush-meat or encountered simians.
Despite remaining untreated she currently shows no signs of developing full-blown Aids.
Jean-Christophe Plantier, who led the scientists, said the finding "highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence for new HIV variants, particularly in western-central Africa". (ANA)
Amnesty/Report