Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 in Zimbabwe.

Human T cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes myelopathy and adult T cell leukaemia. Knowledge of its distribution in Africa is limited. We performed HTLV-1 testing by enzyme immunoassay, with immunofluorescence assay confirmation, on 931 blood donors, 88 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seronegative patients with clinical features of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, 23 multi-transfused haemophiliacs, 8 patients with haematological malignancies, and 32 patients with neurological disease. One blood donor and 3 neurological patients, all 3 with spinal cord syndromes, were HTLV-1-seropositive. Two of the 3 HTLV-1-positive myelopathy patients were co-infected with HIV and both experienced unusually rapid progression of neurological disease. HTLV-1 is uncommon but can be associated with myelopathy in Zimbabwe.