Hunt for origin of HIV pandemic ends at chimpanzee colony in Cameroon

"Scientists searching for the origin of HIV, the global pandemic infecting more than 40 million people, believe they have finally tracked its original source to two colonies of chimpanzees in a corner of Cameroon. The finding represents the culmination of a 10-year hunt for the source of the pandemic and provides a crucial link between HIV, which causes Aids in humans, and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a strikingly similar virus that infects monkeys and chimpanzees. Researchers believe that south-east Cameroon is where the virus first jumped from chimpanzees to humans before HIV infection began spreading among people as far back as the 1930s." Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Hunt for origin of HIV pandemic ends at chimpanzee colony in Cameroon

Published: May. 26th, 2006. Categorized: . Tagged: AIDS

---