Kampala: Ugandan runners have been hit by a major health scare after it emerged that a coach accused of sexually abusing young athletes was infected with HIV. There are fears the virus, which can lead to AIDS, may have been spread further among other runners due to promiscuity among the athletes, and one of the east African nation's top sportsman is calling for widespread testing.

"Many of our colleagues must be infected," Commonwealth Gold medallist Moses Kipsiro was quoted as saying by the Daily Monitor newspaper. "God should have mercy on us." Uganda, an emerging athletics power that has been trying to take on traditional regional rivals Kenya and Ethiopia, was hit by an athletics sex abuse scandal nearly a year ago.