History of HIV & AIDS

HIV and AIDS are viruses that impact the human immune system. As of the early 21st century, the virus is considered a global pandemic, impacting nearly every country around the world. While the origins of the disease have been hard to identify by scientists, research continues to indicate the virus spread from apes to humans in sub-Saharan Africa. Identification of HIV and AIDS took a number of years, adding to the unbridled spread to tens of millions of people.

Origins

• According to a May 25, 2006 article in "Science Express," it is believed that the HIV and AIDS viruses originated with chimpanzee populations in West-Central Africa. Specifically, evidence shows that the virus can be traced directly to wild chimps in the country of Cameroon near the Sanaga River. "USA Today" reported in May 2006 that University of Alabama at Birmingham scientist Dr. Beatrice Hahn led a team of researchers into the area to collect 1,300 fecal matter samples from wild apes. Details from the study identified the region as the likely source of HIV.

Human Transmission

• Evidence reported in the June 2000 issue of "Science" suggests that transmission from chimpanzees to humans most likely occurred during the late 1800s or early 1900s. A number of doctors from the Belgian Congo in the early 20th century preserved tissue samples that identify the existence of HIV, leading to conjecture that the virus reached humans in the area between 1884 and 1924. A journal "Nature" article from 2008 addressed the likelihood of the expanse of colonization in the West-Central Africa region helped propagate the virus and its ultimate mutation into its modern form. A biopsy preserved in wax from a woman in 1960 appears to hold the first example of the human version of the HIV virus. This means that the chimpanzee version took roughly 40 years to become the human version.

Spread

• A study conducted in 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences in the United States reports that the HIV and AIDS virus most likely spread to Haiti from sub-Saharan Africa in 1966. This transmission is believed to have been the result of contact from individuals arriving from the Congo. The virus then spread to the United States itself and was not identified for a number of years. According to a 1985 article in the "Annals of Internal Medicine," infection had reached over five percent in some communities in major cities.

Identification

• The Pasteur Institute in France, led by Dr. Luc Montagnier's team, reported that it had isolated the retrovirus in a May 1983 "Science" article. The research team named the virus lymphadenopathy-associated virus or LAV. Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute began to conduct research of their own. The following year, Robert Gallo identified the virus as human T lymphotropic virus type III or HTLV-III. Both viruses were found to be the same, prompting the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses to rename both identifications as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV.

Significance

• According to Dr. L.O. Kallings, the former Secretary-General of the International AIDS Society, the viruses HIV and AIDS are a global pandemic. Despite preventative measures and increased awareness by the public since the 1980s, the virus has spread globally. As of 2007, an estimated 25 million people had been killed by the infection. An additional 33 million people were infected, creating a humanitarian emergency in certain parts of the world, most notably sub-Saharan Africa. This has been fueled by the slow development of treatments and denial of its dangers by a number of communities. Dr. Kallings estimates that funding for prevention and treatment in the United States alone may reach $42 billion in 2010.