Where is HIV thought to have originated?
There are two strains of the HIV virus: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1, the more common precursor to AIDS, was found to originate in chimpanzees in equatorial West Africa . Primates are carriers of SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus), and researchers determined that the genetic composition of SIV found in the chimpanzee subspecies Pan troglodytes troglodytes was very similar to the composition of HIV-1 . It is thought that the virus jumped from primate to man as a result of human consumption of chimpanzee meat. Giving weight to this hypothesis is evidence that the strain of the SIV virus found in Pan troglodytes troglodytes is actually derived from the transmission and recombination events of the SIVs found in smaller monkeys on which chimpanzees prey . The scientists who performed this study argue that if the virus can be passed from a monkey to a chimpanzee, it can also be passed from a chimpanzee to a human under similar circumstances (i.e. consumption of infected meat). The first documente
