“The Cut Hunter” - The Theory to SIV/HIV-1 Spillover

According to the CDC, scientists estimate that over half of the infectious diseases present in human life are zoonotic - or, diseases that spread between animals and people. There are many zoonotic diseases present in our day-to-day life that we shield ourselves regularly: influenza, tuberculosis, foodborne illness, etc. Whether it’s through a vaccine or a simple hand wash, every moment of our life is spent fighting off these potential health risks. But… what about HIV? While we associate all of these zoonotic diseases with a shot and a cure, or maybe a hemorrhagic fever, it’s quite uncommon to think: …animals… virus… person… the undetermined rate of immunodeficiency.  It might come as a bit of a shock, but yes, HIV is a zoonotic disease as well. It wasn’t born from sin. It didn’t spontaneously occur at random in the average Joe.  Martine Peeters and Fran Van Heuverswyn with the French Research Institute for Development and the University of Montpellier addressed the origin of HIV by identifying SIV - Simian Immunodeficiency Virus - as a precursor to HIV-1 and HIV-2: a result of cross-species transmission.  In Gabon, a country residing along Central Africa, Peeters and her team tested genome analysis. This genome analysis linked chimpanzee and a plethora of other species, documenting the genetic diversity of this virus. The geographic origin, as well, influences the first ‘known’ case of spillover: bushmeat hunters.  As graphic as it may seem, when a man in Africa butchers a piece of meat, it includes gutting and skinning and deboning an animal.  A knife slip. Blood to blood. HIV transmission.  With this closely related strand examined in chimpanzees, the simian-human linkage between viruses becomes clearer and clearer.