HIV-1 genetic subtype A/B recombinant strain causing an explosive epidemic in injecting drug users in Kaliningrad

Abstract

The HIV-1 epidemic in Kaliningrad probably started from a single source, with rapid spread of the virus through the IDU population. The origin of the epidemic strain is a recombination event occurring between the subtype A strain virus prevalent among IDU in some southern CIS countries, and a subtype B strain of unknown origin.