Viral Origin of KS Appears Confirmed

WASHINGTON--New research presented at the 2nd National Conferenceon Human Retroviruses and Related Infections appears to confirmlast year's report that a virus is the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma(KS). Its discoverers, Drs. Patrick S. Moore and Yuan Chang ofColumbia University, are calling the virus Kaposi sarcoma-associatedherpesvirus (KSHV).

The researchers announced that they have mapped the virus's basicgenetic structure and found that it is the largest known herpesvirus,containing DNA made up of 270,000 nucleotide base pairs.

They have consistently found the genetic sequence for KSHV intissue samples from people with KS who are HIV negative. The viruswas noted in six samples from people with classic KS (usuallyfound in elderly Mediterranean men), four from HIV-negative gaymen, and 10 from Africans with endemic African KS.