The discovery of a new recombinant HIV-1 strain in Cyprus was recently announced, with the name “CRF91_cpx”, by scientists from the University of Cyprus, and the National HIV Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico in the US.

According to an announcement by the University of Cyprus, molecular research on HIV-1 was carried out at the University of Cyprus in collaboration with the Gregorios AIDS Clinic of the Larnaca General Hospital, leading to the discovery of a new recombinant (chimeric) HIV-1 strain, consisting of four HIV-1 strains: CRF02_AG, G, J and U (U refers to an unknown subtype, which does not belong to any established subtype). This new recombinant HIV-1 strain was classified as a new circulating recombinant form of HIV-1 and designated as “CRF91_cpx” by the Los Alamos National Laboratory HIV Database (USA). The results of this discovery, it adds, were published on August 18, 2022 by the prestigious international medical journal Virulence.

"The question is, ‘was it created in Cyprus or was it imported to Cyprus’? The answer is that we don't know at the moment," -Dr. Kostrikis

CRF91_cpx was discovered among 16 individuals with HIV-1 living in Cyprus, 14, whose samples were used for the study and two discovered after the publication of the study. “Currently, epidemiological analyses demonstrate that CRF91_cpx is circulating mainly among Cypriot men who have sex with men (MSM) who were infected in Cyprus,” the university announcement said. After the initial discovery, it adds, ongoing phylogenetic analyses conducted with genomes of HIV-1 isolated from newly diagnosed patients in Cyprus identified two more Cypriot MSM who were infected with the CRF91_cpx strain. “Collectively, the data suggest an ongoing transmission of this new recombinant HIV-1 strain, CRF91_cpx, in Cyprus with currently unknown clinical manifestations,” it said.