A HIV-2 strain named HIV-2(ben) was isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes of a patient who, since 1984, had developed neurological symptoms such as Raynaud's syndrome, followed by paresthesia of extremities and ataxia, and finally paraparesis of the legs and incontinence. This new isolate could be distinguished from HIV-2(rod) by antibody-binding epitopes, peptide maps of core p24 and p18 polypeptide and restriction endonuclease cleavage pattern.