Sometimes it pays to be a saver. Dr. Andre Nahmias has saved blood samples from the 1950's in his freezer. These samples were collected from Africans. The blood samples were originally collected for a different study. However, when the study was over Dr. Nahmias decided to save them. His studies in 1986 revealed that a sample dated in 1959 was positive for antibodies to the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus or the AIDS virus) and was from a man that lived in what is now called Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Within the past year, researchers from Dr. David Ho's laboratory then took a portion of this sample and were able to detect four small HIV RNA fragments from this blood sample. This is the earliest confirmed case of HIV infection yet recorded. Information from these studies indicate that the:
- AIDS epidemic started in Africa.
- global AIDS epidemic was probably started by a single HIV strain.
- HIV was infecting humans for quite awhile before the epidemic started.
- HIV started infecting humans right around, or just after World War 2.
These results are not set in concrete. There is a good bit of speculation on the actual events and times at which this epidemic actually got started. However, it is a pretty good start and hopefully more data will be forthcoming to shed more light of the mysteries of how and when this epidemic started.
The research article (to see the summary you need to register) can be found in the Feb. 5th, 1998, issue of Nature with comments on the article found in the Feb. 6th, 1998, issue of Science. A few more pieces of the AIDS puzzle have been placed. Think about saving something today. You never know when it might be useful.
Take Care and Think Microbiologically!
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