HIV Is Linked to Cameroon Apes

A study of wild chimp droppings in Africa suggests HIV first developed as a simian form of the virus in chimpanzees in Cameroon and later made its way from the apes to humans, likely through the hunting and slaughter of the animals. Up to 35% of wild chimps in some areas of Cameroon were infected with SIV, the researchers found. It is believed the first human HIV case was reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1950s; the Sangha and Congo rivers link Cameroon to Congo.