Frequency of CCR5 variants among rural populations with low HIV-1 prevalence in Cameroon.

Among rural populations in Cameroon, HIV-1 prevalence is low and the genetic diversity broad. An unusual population-level genetic background may modulate this pattern of HIV infection. We examined HIV-1 prevalence, CCR5Delta32 and CCR5 promoter -2459 G genotype frequency among 1390 rural inhabitants. No individual was identified with the CCR5Delta32 allele, but homozygotes for the CCR5 promoter variant -2459G (27.5%) were relatively common. A seroprevalence of 3.1% of HIV-1 was reported.