NON-AIDS RETROVIRAL INFECTIONS IN HUMANS

In the decade since the first human retrovirus was identified, one form of leukemia and a chronic neurological disorder have been shown to be related to this agent. A spectrum of lymphomas, additional inflammatory disorders such as polymyositis, and possibly other neurological diseases also have been linked to HTLV-I infection. Although the pathogenesis of these disorders remains to be defined, these exciting developments coupled with the discovery that AIDS is a retroviral-induced disease indicate that human retroviruses are responsible for a variety of human disorders and suggest that other agents such as members of the foamy virus subfamily, as well as yet unidentified human retroviruses, may produce other human diseases.