How did the AIDS breakout begin.

The beginning of the AIDS outbreak was a subtle shift in the genetic material of a virus which allowed the virus to become zoonotic, meaning that it could be transferred from animals to people. Over a period of time which probably lasted for decades, the virus was repeatedly transmitted from primates in Africa to people, and eventually it established a foothold in the human population and began spreading itself beyond the boundaries of the African continent. By the time scientists and medical professionals were able to connect all the dots, the AIDS epidemic had spread across much of the world; as of 2007, over 33 million people worldwide were infected with HIV, the virus which develops into AIDS.

 From Africa, the AIDS virus jumped to Haiti, and then it began to spread rapidly in a variety of directions. A gay flight attendant sometimes referred to as “Patient Zero” is often vilified for causing the AIDS epidemic, but all evidence suggests that the virus spread simultaneously in several communities; the HIV virus actually has several different groupings or “clades,” illustrating the fact that it wasn’t caused by a single individual.

 By learning more about the spread of the AIDS epidemic, researchers hope to discover new techniques for treating and perhaps possibly curing or vaccinating against the disease. For example, different clades respond in unique ways to treatment, illustrating the diversity of the HIV and AIDS viruses, and some clades are more fatal than others; less fatal clades are probably older, as their victims would have lived long enough for the disease to spread further.