WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 (AFP) - Scientists have long assumed people contracted HIV from apes, but a report revealed Thursday that chimpanzees in Cameroon are the "natural reservoir" for the AIDS virus.
Twenty-five years after HIV was discovered, the magazine Science published a study of a sub-species of Pan troglodytes troglodytes -- chimpanzees to most of us -- who carry the virus SIVcpz, a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus.
It is similar to VIH-1, which is responsible for the AIDS pandemic, according to British, French and US scientists who participated in the study.
SIV had previously been found only in captive chimpanzees, so researchers took to the jungles of Cameroon, to study the droppings of these wild animals and found SIVcpz in chimp communities.
The virus most likely infected hunters who ate the meat 25 or more years ago.
The team, composed of scientists from the US University of Alabama, Montpellier in France and Nottingham in Britain said that their findings, along with other studies, "show for the first time a clear picture of the origin of HIV-1 and the seeds of the AIDS pandemic."
According to scientists, "It is quite possible that still other SIVcpz lineages exist that could pose risks for human infection and prove problematic for HIV diagnostics and vaccines."
Yet to be understood is how the virus made its way from its "natural reservoir," to Kinshasa, where the virus first appeared, 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away.
AIDS has so far killed 26 million persons, and HIV has infected 40 million more, many of them in Africa. No cure or vaccine yet exists.
060525
AF060545
Copyright ©AFP 2006. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2006 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
