Man believed cured of AIDS says disease completely gone

Washington, July 25 (ANI): A man, thought to be the first person to be cured of AIDS, has dismissed reports suggesting that he still suffers from the disease.

Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin patient," said that the doctors have told him that he is "cured of AIDS and will remain cured.

Brown had a blood stem cell transplant in 2007 to treat leukemia, using a donor who had a rare gene mutation that provided natural resistance to HIV, Fox News reported.

Doctors declared Brown "cured" soon after.

However, researchers in California recently found traces of HIV in his tissues.

Brown said that any remnants of the virus still in his body are dead and cannot replicate.

Addressing the media in the US for the first time on Tuesday while appearing frail but energetic, Brown announced the formation of a new AIDS foundation in his name.

"I am the first, and I believe the first of many people who will be cured of the AIDS virus.

"My body is proof of the concept that HIV can be cured," Brown said. (ANI)