The origin of AIDS and HIV has been a topic of fierce debate and argument since the early 1980s. The medical and scientific communities now agree on the fact that HIV causes AIDS, which means any probing regarding the rise of AIDS requires digging to look for the roots of HIV and to understand how, when and where it all began.
HIV/SIV Relationship
In 1999, a group of researchers led by Paul Sharp of Nottingham University and Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama identified a type of chimpanzee located in West Africa infected with a virus closely resembling HIV. Named simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV, Sharp and Hahn claimed their blood samples proved that chimps were the source of HIV, and that the virus crossed species at some point from animals to humans.
Crossover Theories
There are several theories, some well accepted and others more controversial, to explain how the SIV virus was able to cross over from animals to become HIV in humans. According to international AIDS charity AVERT, the most accepted theory is that hunters acquired the virus by eating infected chimp meat or getting their infected blood into open cuts and wounds.
Another popular idea builds on this "hunter" theory, and contends that during colonial rule in Africa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Africans worked in harsh labor camps where starvation and sickness prevailed. A stray chimpanzee would have been a welcome source of food in this environment, and an SIV-infected one could have easily taken advantage of a weakened human immune system. Inoculations in these labor camps occurred with unsterilized needles, and camp bosses employed prostitutes to keep the workforce happy. These conditions may have been the perfect blend to spread the newly formed HIV virus from person to person.
Time Frame
Led by Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, the results of a 2008 study indicated that HIV’s origins occurred some 50 years prior than previously thought. Published in an October 2008 “Nature” journal and reprinted in TheBody.com from an October 2008 edition of the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, Worobey’s research reviewed lymph node tissue from an HIV-positive woman who died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1960. The team was able to trace a common ancestor from this woman’s tissue sample, dating back to between 1884 and 1924.
Roots
Evidence suggests that HIV origins are rooted in Africa, according to both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AVERT. The strain of HIV known as Group M, largely responsible for the worldwide pandemic, came from Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. Other strains also appear to originate in Africa.
Reaching U.S. Shores
How the virus spread from Africa to America is not entirely clear, although according to AVERT, evidence suggests HIV came to North America via the Caribbean nation of Haiti. In fact, an October 2007 paper published by Worobey gave a 99.7 certainty that the predominant U.S. HIV strain known as Group B originated in Haiti before spreading to the U.S.
The Perfect Storm
A rise in national and international air travel during the late 1970s no doubt played a critical role in HIV’s initial spread, according to AVERT. During the era, blood transfusions also became a routine part of medical practice and, in countries like the U.S.. blood donors were paid cash in an attempt to meet the increased demand for blood. Concurrently, intravenous drugs like heroin became more prevalent during the 1970s. These conditions, coupled with a lack of knowledge about HIV transmission, provided the perfect storm that resulted in a pandemic that was spread by this deadly virus.
