BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- No cases of "Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency" have been found on the Chinese mainland since the disease being detected in Taiwan and Thailand, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health said.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is already equipped with related techniques and equipment, and will strengthen supervision over the disease after the latest international research results are released, said Deng Haihua, the spokesman, at a press conference on Tuesday.
An article titled "Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency in Thailand and Taiwan" was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2012, showing that a new disease has left scores of people in those areas with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV.
Unlike the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), scientists are still unaware of the cause of the disease, which does not seem to be contagious.
Deng also said that some "patients" in China have claimed to have been infected by the so-called "HIV-negative AIDS," but investigations conducted by the ministry since 2009 have found no evidence that they are infected with a new or unknown virus.
Medical experts believe that these "patients" may suffer from some kind of psychological AIDS phobia, which is different in nature from "Adult-Onset Immunodeficiency," Deng added.
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