HIV/AIDS: How Did This Happen?

HIV/AIDS: How Did This Happen?
The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the illness first came to
light in the early 1980s. For over twenty years it has been the subject of fierce debate
and the cause of countless arguments, with everything from a promiscuous flight
attendant to a suspect vaccine programme being blamed. So what is the truth? Just
where did AIDS come from?
The first recognised cases of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early 1980s (more about
this period can be found on our History of AIDS page). A number of gay men in New
York and California suddenly began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers
that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did not yet have a
name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common
syndrome.
The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was made soon after. While
some were initially resistant to acknowledge the connection (and indeed some remain
so today), there is now clear evidence to prove that HIV causes AIDS. So, in order to
find the source of AIDS, it is necessary to look for the origin of HIV, and find out how,
when and where HIV first began to cause disease in humans.
HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this type, it attacks the immune system.
Lentiviruses are in turn part of a larger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The
name 'lentivirus' literally means 'slow virus' because they take such a long time to
produce any adverse effects in the body. They have been found in a number of different
animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most interesting
lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian
Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least

32,000 years old.
It is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency
Virus because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV2, the two types of HIV.
HIV-2 for example corresponds to SIVsm, a strain of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
found in the sooty mangabey (also known as the White-collared monkey), which is
indigenous to western Africa.
The more virulent, pandemic strain of HIV, namely HIV-1, was until recently more
difficult to place. Until 1999, the closest counterpart that had been identified was
SIVcpz, the SIV found in chimpanzees. HoIn February 1999 a group of researchers
from the University of Alabama 2 announced that they had found a type of SIVcpz that
was almost identical to HIV-1. This particular strain was identified in a frozen sample
taken from a captive member of the sub-group of chimpanzees known as Pan
troglodytes troglodytes ( P. t. troglodytes), which were once common in west-central
Africa.
The researchers (led by Paul Sharp of Nottingham University and Beatrice Hahn of the
University of Alabama) made the discovery during the course of a 10-year long study
into the origins of the virus. They claimed that this sample proved that chimpanzees
were the source of HIV-1, and that the virus had at some point crossed species from
chimps to humans.
Their final findings were published two years later in Nature magazine 3. In this article,
they concluded that wild chimps had been infected simultaneously with two different
simian immunodeficiency viruses which had "viral sex" to form a third virus that could be
passed on to other chimps and, more significantly, was capable of infecting humans and
causing AIDS.
These two different viruses were traced back to a SIV that infected red-capped
mangabeys and one found in greater spot-nosed monkeys. They believe that the
hybridisation took place inside chimps that had become infected with both strains of SIV
after they hunted and killed the two smaller species of monkey.
They also concluded that all three 'groups' of HIV-1 - namely Group M, N and O (see
our strains and subtypes page for more information on these) - came from the SIV
found in P. t. troglodytes, and that each group represented a separate crossover 'event'
from chimps to humans.
It has been known for a long time that certain viruses can pass between species.
Indeed, the very fact that chimpanzees obtained SIV from two other species of primate
shows just how easily this crossover can occur. As animals ourselves, we are just as
susceptible. When a viral transfer between animals and humans takes place, it is known
as zoonosis.
Below are some of the most common theories about how this 'zoonosis' took place, and
how SIV became HIV in humans.
SUBMITTED BY:
KARL MACNEIL E. FLORES

CWTS 2T
(BSA 5B-irreg)

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HIV/AIDS: How Did This Happen?

Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least

KARL MACNEIL E. FLORES

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