AIDS from Chimpanzees?

Scientists have discovered that the virus that causes AIDS

started in a certain type of chimpanzee from Africa. The scientists compared HIV (human
immunodeficiency virus) in humans to SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) in chimpanzees. The
tests showed that SIV crossed over the species barrier and began infecting humans. The research
was done by a group of scientists from the United States, France, and Great Britain. This team of
scientists believes that the virus jumped the barrier when humans in Africa handled the blood or
meat of infected chimpanzees.Many people began killing that type of chimpanzee, hoping to stop
the spread of the AIDS virus. But the scientists have stopped them from killing any more chimps.
They need the chimpanzees to live. They need to study why the chimpanzees who carry SIV do
not die from AIDS. The scientists hope that they will find a cure for AIDS and a vaccine which
will prevent more humans from getting the AIDS virus.These are ways that HIV can be
passed:From person to person through unprotected sex with a person who is HIV infected.From
one person to another, through the sharing of needles for drugs. Sometimes, medical personnel
who work with HIV-positive patients may be pricked by a needle that has been infected.From a
mother to her baby, during pregnancy.Through breast-feeding, from the mother's milk. Only
about 1/3 of babies of HIV-positive mothers are infected this way. These are ways that HIV
cannot be passed: From mosquito bites or insect bites. From a toilet seat in a public restroom.
From going to the same school with someone who is has AIDS. From visiting or talking to a
friend who is sick with AIDS. From hugging a friend who has HIV/AIDS. It is impossible to
catch AIDS just by being kind to someone who has AIDS. The information provided is for
educational use only. It is not intended for, and should not replace, the advice and treatment of a
qualified physician. Question: Can you tell me how the AIDS virus was spread from Africa to the
United States and why it spread so rapidly? HIV probably arose in Africa as a zoonotic infection
that succeeded in jumping from non-human primates to man. The most likely candidate at this
point is SIV, or Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. This is a virus that produces a disease very
much like AIDS in monkeys, and is both structurally and genetically related to HIV. According to
Laurie Garrett ("The Coming Plague") and others, it is speculated that HIV is sort of like other
emerging diseases, like Ebola, in that they have existed in animal populations for a long time,
but man did not come into contact with them until humans penetrated the formerly uninhabited
regions of the jungle/rain forest where these things were found. Probably there were chance
infections in earlier times as well; but populations were far smaller, sparser, more separated,
and travel more difficult. Today, with modern air transportation, with roads such as the
Kinshasa Highway in Zaire, with rapid movement of large numbers of people into and out of
Africa and around the world, these emerging diseases have exactly what they need to get started
in a big way: large, high-density, non-immune populations fairly close together and a very
efficient and high speed means of moving infected individuals between populations. As man
encroaches on these, we encounter these (to us) new viruses. Some cannot make the jump,
because we are not susceptible. Others make the jump, but do not cause illness. Some make the
juocause illness. Some make the jump are immediately lethal, such as Ebola. Still others make
the jump, and change to fit the new host.
A great deal has been made of "patient zero," a gay flight attendant, who was traced by
classic epidemiological methods to an early cluster of AIDS patients in the United States
(detailed in "And the Band Played On" by Randy Stoltz). There were probably other "patient
zeros" as well who remain unknown. Clearly, the long latency of infection and the ready spread

through unprotected sexual contact, coupled with a fairly high degree of promiscuity in some
segments of the gay population during the 1970s and 1980s, have had a lot to do with
establishing the virus in the United States. We must remember, however, that HIV has a very
different demographic distribution in Africa and parts of Asia, where heterosexual transmission
is the predominant mode of transmission; and the incidence of infection is the same in men and
women. Further, while homosexual and bisexual men still account for almost half of all new
cases, heterosexual transmission and transmission to women are increasing rapidly and
represent the fastest growing population of new AIDS cases. In addition, IV drug use, and
associated prostitution are major problems and are very efficient ways to move the virus into
new patients, who then move the virus.The information provided is for educational use only. It is
not intended for, and should not replace, the advice and treatment of a qualified
physician.Question: What is the history of AIDS?This is a young disease by historical
perspective. It supposedly first appeared in humans in 1976 but was not recognized as a disease
until 1981. There are numerous theories regarding the origins of the HIV virus. There is a
relationship between HIV, Human Immune Deficiency, and SIV, Simian Immune Deficiency
(monkeys). The disease originated in Africa, where tropical diseases and malnutrition run
rampant. In Africa, the transmission has always been among the heterosexual population. In the
United States, it appeared simultaneously in New York and California. Case #2, before the
disease being recognized, was a gay flight attendant who had numerous partners throughout the
world. Supposedly, this person helped the disease significantly spread throughout the world. In
1979, the term for the syndrome was GRID Gay Related Immune Deficiency. By 1981, people
were dying from GRID in epidemic proportions, with Kaposi's Sarcoma and PCP, Pnemocystic
Carni Pneumonia. In 1982, the term AIDS came into use. In 1983, the term ARC, AIDS Related
Complex, was used. This was later discarded. In 1985, antibody testing with the Elissa and
Western blot was utilized. To this date, there is no cure in sight.The information provided is for
educational use only. It is not intended for, and should not replace, the advice and treatment of a
qualified physician.