According to a new research the AIDS virus entered the United States via Haiti, probably arriving in just one person in about 1969, earlier than first believed. After the virus, HIV-1, entered the U.S., it flourished and spread worldwide.

The team conducting the research analyzed blood from five of the first AIDS patients identified in the U.S., all of whom were recent immigrants from Haiti. The team also analyzed genetic sequences from another 117 AIDS patients from around the world who were infected with subtype B, the virus strain that has spread most widely. The study is due to be published this week in the Early Online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is the work of Michael Worobey, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at The University of Arizona in Tucson, and colleagues.

As per the study the most likely route was Africa to Haiti then the US, which yielded a probability of 99.8 per cent. The study might help in improving the design and testing of future vaccines by taking into full account the genetic diversity of the virus. HIV was formally recognized in 1981, and limited initial government support for studying the disease led to many more infections. This scenario is now hoped to change and efforts are being put in to restrict the disease in its present stage.

Via:BBC

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