The limited epidemiological investigation in this case shows that the patient could have developed AIDS in as little as 2 months, but that it might have taken as long as 10, Dr. Frieden said. On average, it takes 10 years from the time a person is first infected with H.I.V. for AIDS to develop. But it can take only months for some people, and 20 years for others.
At the news conference in Lower Manhattan, Dr. Frieden was joined by nearly a dozen AIDS experts and community leaders. Several participants said they were experiencing the same worried feeling they had more than two decades ago, when AIDS first appeared and there was no treatment.
Health officials cautioned that the emergence of the rare strain did not mean that people who are currently responding well to H.I.V./AIDS treatment needed further testing, unless ordered by a physician. They did warn, however, that people with H.I.V./AIDS could be re-infected with a different and more dangerous strain if they practiced unprotected sex.
More tests need to be completed before it is clear if any combination of drugs can effectively treat this strain of the virus, but Dr. Frieden said that therapy now appeared to be extremely difficult.
The man is currently receiving a cocktail of drugs, including one, Enfuvirtide, that is believed to be effective. Doctors cautioned, however, that single-drug therapy was rarely effective against AIDS in the long term.
From the moment the Health Department learned about this case on Jan. 22, its scientists have been studying complex laboratory tests to decipher the patterns of resistance, and epidemiologists have tried to trace the man's sexual partners and notify them of the potential risk.
In May 2003, the man tested negative for H.I.V., health officials said. Investigators believe he contracted H.I.V. in October 2004, when he engaged in unprotected anal sex with multiple partners while using crystal methamphetamine. The man found some of his partners on an Internet Web site, officials said, though they would not identify the site. Health officials said they were working with those who used the Web site to reach as many people as possible who might have been infected or are worried that they could have been.
Stylized rendering of a cross-section of the HIV (AIDS) virus.''source:NIH''
 A drug-resistant and quick-acting form of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been detected in New York City, according to officials.

Although diagnosed in only one man so far, this mutated version of the virus progresses to AIDS faster than other forms of HIV, officials said. Diagnosed with HIV in mid-October, the unnamed New York City man developed the full-blown form AIDS by mid-January. Normally HIV infection can take up to 10 years to develop into AIDS. 

Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, the director of HIV/AIDS prevention at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), told the ''New York Times'' this new strain of virus is unique because of the rapid progression of the disease and its resistance to multiple AIDS drug regimens. Although the New York case appears to be isolated at this time, the CDC has sent a nation-wide alert to health departments in every state.

"It appears this individual has contracted a new, particularly virulent strain of HIV that swiftly advanced to AIDS in just a few short months," Charles Farthing, MD, AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Chief of Medicine said in a press release. "Unfortunately, it also seems that few of the AIDS treatments currently available today can be used in his case, as this particular strain of infection appears to be resistant to most known AIDS drugs."

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, urged all newly-diagnosed HIV patients to get tested to see if they have this new form of the virus. He also said all sexually active people should be tested for the HI virus.

New York health officials said they estimate that about 88,000 New Yorkers have HIV infection or AIDS and that an additional 20,000 are infected but unaware of their condition.