Posted by
Alex in
Science & Tech on May 31, 2006 at 1:03 am
 |
Scientists have finally confirmed the origin of HIV: a chimpanzee virus called the SIVcpz, isolated from wild chimps in southern Cameroon, Africa.
It is thought that people hunting chimpanzees first contracted the virus – and that cases were first seen in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo – the nearest urban area – in 1930. …
But SIVcpz has not been found to cause any Aids-like illnesses in chimpanzees, so researchers are investigating why the animals do not suffer any symptoms, when humans – who are so genetically similar – do.
Link
|