Since the AIDS epidemic first emerged in the early 1980s, people have speculated about the origin of the disease. In the following decades, numerous theories about the origins of HIV emerged. Many of these theories were quickly disproved, but a few of the theories remain popular today with both the scientific community and the public.
The Hunter Theory of HIV Origin
The most commonly accepted theory of the development of HIV is called the “hunter” theory. In this theory, Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), a virus similar to HIV that infects other primates, was transferred when humans killed chimps for food. The virus entered their system either through ingestion of infected meat or by getting infected chimp blood into their own blood stream.
Strains of SIV matching both HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two strains of HIV, have been found in chimpanzees and monkeys living in Africa. Other similar viruses have been found to jump between species in a process called zoonosis.
Oral Polio Vaccine Theory
A second theory contends that HIV was transferred to people in Africa via the oral polio vaccine called Chat. A book titled The River, by journalist Edward Hooper, traces the use of the vaccine in the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda in the late 1950s. This thoroughly researched book documents the process that Hooper believes created the AIDS epidemic.
Oral polio vaccine was cultivated in kidney cells taken from chimpanzees. Hooper contended that the vaccine used was grown in SIV infected cells. In 2000, the original manufacturer of the vaccine, the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, found vials of the same vaccine that was administered in the 1950s. They announced that there was no HIV or SIV in the vaccine. Later, they released information stating that the cells used to grow the vaccine were from macaque monkeys, a primate that cannot be infected with SIV or HIV.
If the oral polio vaccine theory were true, scientist would expect to see just one group of HIV. Since there are a range of groups in existence, evidence suggests that the transferal from apes to humans must have occurred in another way. This same evidence also suggests that HIV was in existence before the polio vaccine was ever given.
Conspiracy Theories of HIV Origin
A survey carried out in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a significant number of individuals believe that HIV is a man-made disease designed to wipe out large numbers of African-Americans and homosexuals. The theory is that the virus was developed by the US Federal Special Cancer Virus Program. The virus was supposedly spread throughout the population using the smallpox and Hepatitis B vaccines.
Historical and scientific evidence do not support this theory since HIV has been traced back as far as 1959, twenty-three years before the Hepatitis B vaccine was developed. There is also an overwhelming amount of evidence that shows that HIV is related to SIV.
For further reading:
The Origin of HIV and the First Cases of AIDS. (July 24, 2008). Avert Website.
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