HIV virus putting humans at risk for more than 32,000 years

A new study found, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a virus similar to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been in monkeys for millennia, potentially putting humans at risk for the last 32,000 years and possibly much longer.

Humans could have been exposed to the HIV virus and possibly infected before the late 1970s, however the virus did not become an epidemic until later. Human butchers could have been exposed to the monkey’s blood.

The research was led by Michael Worobey, a professor in the University of Arizona’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology, in conjunction with virologist Preston Marx of Tulane University. Their work included a genetic analysis of SIV strains found in monkeys on Bioko, an island off the coast of what is now Cameroon which split off the continent of Africa after the ice age more than 10,000 years ago.

The researchers gathered tissue samples from monkeys on the island, confirmed four strains of SIV and compared them to the very different strains found on the mainland. Computer models that evaluated the rate of DNA change over time discovered the virus had to be at least 32,000 years old and likely much older.

Their findings are important for future efforts to control the spread of HIV. The hope is that with strong research, the evolution of HIV to AIDS can be stopped.