The ABCs of plague creation

A. Take an existing dread disease, pretend it's a political problem and brow-beat the taxpayers into shelling out megabucks for research into drugs that delay or indefinitely postpone its worst effects.

B. Change no behavior. To change behavior might give the public the idea that this is a disease like any other disease, one that has risk factors which could be avoided.

C. Add methamphetamine to your lifestyle.

What do you get as a result? A Superfast Killer HIV Strain.

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- New York City doctors have discovered a man with a previously unseen strain of HIV that is resistant to three of the four types of anti-viral drugs that combat the disease, and progresses from infection to full-blown AIDS in two or three months, the health department said.

``We've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS,'' said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. ``We have not seen a case like this before. It holds the potential for a very serious public health problem.''

The case was diagnosed in a New Yorker in his mid-40s who reported multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal sex -- often while using the drug crystal methamphetamine.

``It is likely there are others infected with this strain and this individual has infected others,'' Frieden said. The case is ``extremely concerning and a wake-up call,'' he said.

But will anyone heed it?