Analysis of a newly discovered HIV sequence from 1960 suggests that the virus entered the human population around the beginning of the twentieth century.
The first AIDS cases in the U.S. were reported in 1981. Soon thereafter, HIV was identified as the underlying pathogen. A viral sequence from 1959 (ZR59) represents the earliest known HIV infection; however, the lack of other viral sequences from before 1976 has hindered efforts to estimate when HIV entered the human population. Now, investigators have shed light on this issue by analyzing the sequence from a newly discovered HIV isolate from 1960.
Bouin’s-fixed, paraffin-embedded histopathologic blocks were found in the 1958–1962 archives of the Department of Anatomy and Pathology at the University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One lymph node specimen, obtained from an adult female in 1960, contained HIV RNA. Comparison o…
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DisclosuresGrant/Research SupportNIH
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; ID Images (idimages.org); Infectious Diseases Society of America COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines; International Antiviral Society–USA (Guidelines Committee)
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesHIV Medicine Association; Infectious Diseases Society of America (Board of Directors)
DisclosuresGrant/Research SupportNIH
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; ID Images (idimages.org); Infectious Diseases Society of America COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines; International Antiviral Society–USA (Guidelines Committee)
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesHIV Medicine Association; Infectious Diseases Society of America (Board of Directors)