In individuals living with HTLV-1 infection, HLA-A*02:07, HLA-A*02:06 and HLA-C*08 are associated with low proviral load and reduced risk of the inflammatory disease HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) whereas HLA-B*54:01 is detrimental i.e. it is associated with a significantly higher proviral load and an increased risk of HAM/TSP (Jeffery et al. 1999). The gene discussed is HLA-A; the disease is tropical spastic paraparesis.