The journal Science published a study last week that indicates xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) may cause chronic fatigue. The study found XRMV present in 68 of 101 patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome whereas only 8 of 218 healthy patients had the virus.
The New York Times also reported on the study.
The new suspect is a xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus, or XMRV, which probably descended from a group of viruses that cause cancer in mice. How or when XMRV found its way into humans is unknown. But it has also been linked to cancer in people: it was first identified three years ago, in prostate cancer, and later detected in about one-quarter of biopsies from men with that disease (and in only 6 percent of benign biopsies). It is a retrovirus, from the same notorious family that causes AIDS and leukemia in people.
However, the findings are preliminary and need to be confirmed by further research.