The first two cases of HIV-2 infection in autoctonous Spanish subjects are presented. Two sailors (62 and 42 years of age) of Galician origin who travelled to east African countries are reported. The epidemiologic, clinico-evolutive characteristics--with manifestations similar to HIV-1 infection (oral candidiasis and villous leukoplasia)--, and therapeutic response to zidovudine are described. The risk of HIV-2 infection in sailors travelling to Africa and the absence of opportunistic infections in a period of at least 6 to 11 years following infection despite CD4+ lymphocytes being under 0.200 x 10(9)/l, are of note.