Abstract

Stealth adaptation is a generic immune evasion mechanism, which can potentially occur with all viruses [1-4]. It involves the deletion or mutation of the genes coding for the relatively few virus components typically targeted by the cellular immune system. A further characteristic of certain stealth adapted viruses is the incorporation of additional genetic sequences of cellular and bacterial origins [5-8]. These “renegade” genetic sequences can be subsequently transmitted between humans as components of infectious stealth adapted viruses. The best characterized stealth adapted virus, referred to in GenBank as stealth virus 1, is a derivative of an African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV) [2,4,9]. It was repeatedly cultured from a patient with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) [10]. A similar virus (stealth virus-2) was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of a comatose patient with a 4-year history of a bipolar psychosis [11].