@article{3001467,
    title = "The global spread of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic",
    author = "Magiorkinis, G. and Angelis, K. and Mamais, I. and Katzourakis, A. and Hatzakis, A. and Albert, J. and Lawyer, G. and Hamouda, O. and Struck, D. and Vercauteren, J. and Wensing, A. and Alexiev, I. and Åsjö, B. and Balotta, C. and Gomes, P. and Camacho, R.J. and Coughlan, S. and Griskevicius, A. and Grossman, Z. and Horban, A. and Kostrikis, L.G. and Lepej, S.J. and Liitsola, K. and Linka, M. and Nielsen, C. and Otelea, D. and Paredes, R. and Poljak, M. and Puchhammer-Stöckl, E. and Schmit, J.C. and Sönnerborg, A. and Staneková, D. and Stanojevic, M. and Stylianou, D.C. and Boucher, C.A.B. and Nikolopoulos, G. and Vasylyeva, T. and Friedman, S.R. and van de Vijver, D. and Angarano, G. and Chaix, M.-L. and de Luca, A. and Korn, K. and Loveday, C. and Soriano, V. and Yerly, S. and Zazzi, M. and Vandamme, A.-M. and Paraskevis, D.",
    journal = "Infection, Genetics and Evolution",
    year = "2016",
    volume = "46",
    pages = "169-179",
    publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
    issn = "1567-1348",
    doi = "10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.041",
    keywords = "Article;  Eastern Europe;  epidemic;  France;  geographic distribution;  human;  human activities;  Human immunodeficiency virus 1 infection;  Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype B;  infection control;  migration;  nonhuman;  North America;  politics;  population migration;  priority journal;  socioeconomics;  Switzerland;  tourism;  United Kingdom;  virus isolation;  virus strain;  virus transmission;  cluster analysis;  epidemic;  HIV Infections;  Human immunodeficiency virus 1;  phylogeography;  statistics and numerical data;  transmission;  virology, Cluster Analysis;  Epidemics;  HIV Infections;  HIV-1;  Human Activities;  Humans;  Phylogeography",
    abstract = "Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was discovered in the early 1980s when the virus had already established a pandemic. For at least three decades the epidemic in the Western World has been dominated by subtype B infections, as part of a sub-epidemic that traveled from Africa through Haiti to United States. However, the pattern of the subsequent spread still remains poorly understood. Here we analyze a large dataset of globally representative HIV-1 subtype B strains to map their spread around the world over the last 50 years and describe significant spread patterns. We show that subtype B travelled from North America to Western Europe in different occasions, while Central/Eastern Europe remained isolated for the most part of the early epidemic. Looking with more detail in European countries we see that the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland exchanged viral isolates with non-European countries than with European ones. The observed pattern is likely to mirror geopolitical landmarks in the post-World War II era, namely the rise and the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European colonialism. In conclusion, HIV-1 spread through specific migration routes which are consistent with geopolitical factors that affected human activities during the last 50 years, such as migration, tourism and trade. Our findings support the argument that epidemic control policies should be global and incorporate political and socioeconomic factors. © 2016 The Authors"
}