During the past decade, HIV infection has exploded in Asian countries. At present, Thailand and India have large populationsof HIV-infected individuals, while China and Burma are lagging several years behind but showing virtually identical patterns of infection. Whether the HIV epidemic will spread to other nations, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, is a matter of concern and conjecture. C. Latin American and the Caribbean. Haiti was one of the original foci of the HIV epidemic.
Brazil is the most severely affected in South America.
Viral Variation and tracking the spread of the epidemic. HIV isolates can be broken down into different families, or clades, based on degrees of similarity of genetic sequence. Using these relationships as an epidemiological tool, one can determine how the infection spread. All HIV types are found in Africa. HIV in Europe and North America are closely-related.