ABSTRACT Most commercially available assays for diagnosis of HIV infection have shown shortcomings in the detection and quantification of rare genotypes of the virus. Most of the assays do not detect subtype O (outlier) and/or N (nonmajor, nonoutlier) or new circulating recombinant forms (CRFs), which are becoming more important in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the commonly available tests require costly measuring devices and expensive test kits, which are not easily affordable for develop...