A recent study by Lombardi et al. [1] describing a gamma - retrovirus infection in 68 of 101 chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients was notable not only for its claim of a new
viral aetiology of a hitherto controversial disease, but also for the fact that proviral DNA could be amplified from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 3.75 % (8/218) of the healthy controls.