ATLANTA - A rare, new strain of the Aids virus often missed by existing blood tests has been found in the United States for the first time, federal health officials said yesterday.
An unidentified African woman in Los Angeles County, California, is one of fewer than 100 people worldwide known to have been infected with the unusual strain, called HIV-1 group O, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. All other strains of HIV-1, the virus that has caused the global Aids epidemic, have belonged to group M, the CDC said.