Human T‐Lymphotropic Virus Type II in Japan

摘要

Serum specimens were assayed for human T‐lymphotropic virus type II (HTLV‐II) infection in 1,500 individuals known to be seropositive for HTLV‐I and 30,000 blood donors in Japan. All HTLV‐I‐positive individuals were negative for HTLV‐II. However, one of the blood donors was clearly seropositive for HTLV‐II. Further, the donor was shown to be positive for HTLV‐IIb. Here we report at least one case with HTLV‐II in Japan and discuss the origin of the infection.