HIV Origin Kinshasa

About HIV Origin Kinshasa

Genetic studies suggest HIV 1 group M crossed from chimpanzees to humans in southeastern Cameroon in the early 20th century, with one widely cited estimate around 1908. The virus was likely transmitted during hunting and butchering of chimpanzees for bushmeat. Infected individuals traveled south via the Sangha and Congo rivers to Kinshasa, then called Leopoldville. Kinshasa was the epicenter of early HIV spread. The virus diversified into multiple subtypes. Belgian colonial labor practices including urban migration, gender imbalance, and sex work facilitated transmission. Some researchers have proposed that unsterile injections in colonial medical campaigns, such as sleeping sickness clinics, may also have contributed. By the 1960s, HIV had spread throughout Central Africa. Haitian professionals working in the newly independent Congo brought the virus to the Caribbean around 1966. From Haiti, the virus reached the United States around 1970. HIV detected in a 1959 Kinshasa blood sample, reported in 1998, and in a 1960 Kinshasa tissue sample, reported in 2008, supported Central Africa as the origin. Genomic studies have mapped the spread of HIV from Kinshasa across Africa and the world.