The Origins of HIV as a Human Infection

Recent studies concluded that HIV probably arose as a human infection
In western central Africa.
In the 1930's.
As a consequence of transfer from primates.
Probably due to the eating of infected meat from:
Chimpanzees (HIV1).
Sooty Mangabey monkeys (HIV2).
The clinical illness of AIDS in humans would probably have been apparent within a few years, but was not recognized by Western medicine for several reasons including:
It was a new illness.
Patients can live with HIV infection for several years before AIDS develops.
Only small numbers of patients would have been affected in the early years.
Life expectancy amongst the affected communities was already low.
Little Western medicine was practiced amongst these communities, especially during, and immediately after the 2nd World War.
As a consequence, HIV infection spread unrecognized for decades.
Two factors in particular allowed HIV to spread rapidly around the world.
The post-war boom in global travel as airline travel became accessible to millions of people.
Increased sexual promiscuity both amongst heterosexuals, but more importantly amongst homosexual men.
The 1960s had seen a relaxation of attitudes to sex outside of marriage.
'Bath houses' were established where homosexual men would go and have sex with many different men over a few hours.
Western medicine began to recognise AIDS in the early 1980's as an illness in sexually promiscuous gay men in the U.S.A..
Before the term AIDS was coined, it was initially known as GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency).
Some believed that God was punishing homosexuals.
One of the first patients to be diagnosed with AIDS was a male homosexual airline pilot who in a short period of time had sex with hundreds of men in a number of cities spread over different continents.
With hindsight, it is thought that a Norwegian merchant seaman who visited ports in west Africa was probably the first European to die of AIDS in the 1950s.