Where did HIV come from?

In the beginning, the immunodeficiency virus was spread only among monkeys. Now it is called the Monkey Immunodeficiency Virus (MIV). This virus has been around for tens of thousands of years and has not always caused symptoms. It is currently unknown how the virus jumped to another species. However, it is believed that it entered the human body as a result of hunting chimpanzees in West Africa, when the monkeys’ blood came into contact with human blood. In order to spread effectively in humans and be transmitted from one person to another, the virus has undergone several mutations.

Scientists believe that the virus has been transmitted to humans periodically throughout its existence. The modern version of the virus is believed to have circulated in limited African populations since the early 1900s. Due to the development of society and the opening of borders, HIV began to spread around the world.

In the early 1980s, scientists identified the virus that causes AIDS. A few years later, another type of human immunodeficiency virus became known to be spreading in society. It was called HIV-2. It is slower to cause severe complications and mainly circulates in West Africa.

Contrary to popular belief, Air Canada flight attendant Gaetan Dugas was not a patient zero, i.e. a patient who had transmitted HIV outside the African continent. It is currently unknown who was the first person to be infected with HIV.

Every year, more than 2 million people are infected with the HIV virus and the same number die of AIDS. HIV knows no geographical or national boundaries and is equally ruthless to rich and poor alike.