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HIV Virus Emerged More Than 75 Years Before AIDS Epidemic
Oct 2nd, 2008 | 2 responses
The HIV virus that causes AIDS was first thought to have emerged in the 1930s, but recent research indicates that the virus may be even older:
Scientists trace AIDS virus origin to 100 years ago
NEW YORK (AP) — The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests.
Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.
Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930. AIDS wasn’t recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States.
The new result is “not a monumental shift, but it means the virus was circulating under our radar even longer than we knew,” says Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, an author of the new work.
The results appear in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Researchers note that the newly calculated dates fall during the rise of cities in Africa, and they suggest urban development may have promoted HIV’s initial establishment and early spread.
The lag between when the virus first took virulent form and when it spread widely enough for us to recognize it shows that the concern over the bird flu and other potentially dangerous viruses is not as overblown as it may appear to the impatient.
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Cross-posted to Random Fate.
2 Responses to “HIV Virus Emerged More Than 75 Years Before AIDS Epidemic”
Jack., there are other explanations, including the heretical view that HIV itself has been around for centuries and may not cause AIDS. One of the perplexing facts confounding the current theory of the etiology of AIDS is that the very first and most thorough tests, done by the US Army showed a 50-50 split between males and females measuring positive for HIV antibodies, about 0.4% of the population. This does not mesh with the fact that AIDS first appeared in the homosexual population, and the population of intravenous drug users. Both populations of course are predominantly male. Never mind hemophiliacs, as they weren't viable candidates for military service and hence weren't tested.
With respect to bird flu, I'm not convinced and have never been, that this is a serious risk that will jump species and become transmissible between humans. Does anybody remember SARS? What happened to that? The first reported occurrence of bird flu was in 1958. What evidence do we have that it can or will become a human transmissible virus? On the other hand, the fear of bird flu has caused us to buy $1 billion worth of Tamiflu, the drug produced by Gilead Sciences, a company run by Don Rumsfeld, who was involved in raising fears about bird flu, while refusing to give up his position with Gilead. Conspiracy theory? We'll see.
Any gamblers out there? I'm willing to make a very large bet that within our lifetimes bird flu never becomes humanly transmissible. However, for betting purposes, let's make it five years, or 10.
Ziagen is an HIV medication. It is in a category of HIV medications called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). Ziagen prevents HIV from altering the genetic material of healthy CD4 cells.