Where did the aids virus come from?

Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. read more

Evidence strongly indicates that HIV had originated from the SIV virus (based on genetic similarities between SIV and HIV). This most likely occurred by humans being directly exposed to monkey blood. There is no significant evidence that HIV was derived from the cat AIDS virus (FIV). read more

Formal tracking (surveillance) of AIDS cases began that year in the United States. In 1983, scientists discovered the virus that causes AIDS. The virus was at first named HTLV-III/LAV (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by an international scientific committee. read more

This was probably as a result of chimps carrying the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), a virus closely related to HIV, being hunted and eaten by people living in the area. The origin of the Human Immunodifiency Virus (HIV) has been a subject of scientific research and debate since the virus was identified in the 1980s. read more