HIV / AIDS

Autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) first came to the public's attention in the United States in the early 1980s. In Africa, the cities of Rwanda, Zaire, Zambia and Uganda were decimated, and cases began cropping up all over the world. In rare blood samples dating back to 1959, antibodies to HIV were detected (Crowley, 1993, p. 46), and yet the virus did not seem to become a problem until twenty years later.

It is not known how the virus carried by chimpanzees and harmless to them, was transmitted to the human population. According to Chang (2011), it is most likely that a hunter in West Africa killed a chimpanzee and was infected by the chimp's blood, probably through an open wound. The virus spread as colonial cities were established, but deaths were attributed to other causes. It is unknown exactly when this scenario occurred, but it is thought...
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