Where Did AIDS Come From

It is believed that the HIV virus has some type of connection to SIV, which stands for Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. Although the effects and genetic structure of these two viruses are exactly the same, HIV does not infect monkeys and similarly, SIV does not infect humans. HIV was first discovered in the United States around 1980 when people began getting ill regularly for no apparent reason. It was diagnosed as AIDS in 1981 and HIV was identified as the virus that caused the damage to the immune system.

Where did AIDS come from if SIV cannot be transferred to humans? It has been suggested that the SIV was transferred when the Polio Vaccine was developed in the Congo. The vaccine was developed in chimp kidney cells which was thought to have caused the contamination of SIV and then administered to more than a million people between 1957 and 1960. Evidence of this theory was the fact that government documents and lab archives for this incident have disappeared, no stipulations on the chimps chosen were made and a strong geographical association between the first AIDS cases identified and the vaccine. Despite this critics claim that the first AIDS cases were identified in urban areas, which is hardly surprising considering an associated increase in sexual activity in urban areas. When the members of the team that created the Polio Vaccine were approached a second time they seemed to retract their earlier statement to Mr. Hooper in his investigation of the origin of AIDS. They then stated that only macaque cell were used which would not have been infected with SIV, and not chimp cells. Most were adamant that they had been misrepresented by Mr. Hooper during his investigation.