Week 8: HIV Origins

Two theories on the origin of HIV are that of the Hunter theory and the Conspiracy theory. The Hunter theory comes from the practice African bush meat hunters. It is known that SIV is carried by certain types of primates. The theory is that somehow this disease was transferred to the hunters of these primates either by consumption of the meat or through cuts on the hunters that came in contact with the simian blood. The virus then adapted itself to live within the human body. The Conspiracy theory states that the HIV virus was man made by the government to wipeout large numbers of African Americans and homosexuals. The hunter theory is very plausible. This theory also is backed by data. The conspiracy theory is entirely based on speculation and the only data avaliable leans toward disproving the theory. People that believe this theory ignore the similarity between SIV and HIV, along with fact that people have been contracting the disease since the 1950s. Although knowing how the disease originally spread to the human population is an important fact, it really will not do much for fighting the disease today. However, knowing how HIV came to be a human disease may help stop other animal diseases from becoming virulent in humans.