Researchers say it's an epidemic that's not on hold-- HIV has not stopped and it's still spreading fast. An international team of researchers led by the University of Florida has created a new way to analyze the spread of dangerous viruses.

The method uses sets of mathematical rules to do what software cannot- analyze subtle DNA differences to more fully understand how a virus spreads in a population.

UF researchers joined forces from the University of Rome, and looked at how an emerging HIV-1 subtype circulated among different risk groups in Italy.

According to their research, boundaries between different populations are loosening.

"Understanding how an epidemic is spreading allows the policy makers, allows people involved with the healthcare policies to have an idea of whats going on, to develop for example, intervention strategies, prevention strategies," said Marco Salemi, an assistant professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine."

The technique in the Nature Communications study could be applied to any bacterial or viral threat.