The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the Americas and beyond

@article{citeulike:1874994, abstract = {HIV-1 group M subtype B was the first HIV discovered and is the predominant variant of AIDS virus in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa. However, the circumstances of its origin and emergence remain unresolved. Here we propose a geographic sequence and time line for the origin of subtype B and the emergence of pandemic HIV/AIDS out of Africa. Using HIV-1 gene sequences recovered from archival samples from some of the earliest known Haitian AIDS patients, we find that subtype B likely moved from Africa to Haiti in or around 1966 (19621970) and then spread there for some years before successfully dispersing elsewhere. A "pandemic" clade, encompassing the vast majority of non-Haitian subtype B infections in the United States and elsewhere around the world, subsequently emerged after a single migration of the virus out of Haiti in or around 1969 (19661972). Haiti appears to have the oldest HIV/AIDS epidemic outside sub-Saharan Africa and the most genetically diverse subtype B epidemic, which might present challenges for HIV-1 vaccine design and testing. The emergence of the pandemic variant of subtype B was an important turning point in the history of AIDS, but its spread was likely driven by ecological rather than evolutionary factors. Our results suggest that HIV-1 circulated cryptically in the United States for {approx}12 years before the recognition of AIDS in 1981. 10.1073/pnas.0705329104}, author = {Gilbert and Rambaut, Andrew and Wlasiuk, Gabriela and Spira, Thomas J. and Pitchenik, Arthur E. and Worobey, Michael }, citeulike-article-id = {1874994}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705329104}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, keywords = {evolution, hiv}, month = {November}, pages = {0705329104+}, posted-at = {2007-11-20 20:25:07}, priority = {0}, title = {The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the Americas and beyond}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705329104}, year = {2007} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1874994 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1874994 N2 - HIV-1 group M subtype B was the first HIV discovered and is the predominant variant of AIDS virus in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa. However, the circumstances of its origin and emergence remain unresolved. Here we propose a geographic sequence and time line for the origin of subtype B and the emergence of pandemic HIV/AIDS out of Africa. Using HIV-1 gene sequences recovered from archival samples from some of the earliest known Haitian AIDS patients, we find that subtype B likely moved from Africa to Haiti in or around 1966 (19621970) and then spread there for some years before successfully dispersing elsewhere. A "pandemic" clade, encompassing the vast majority of non-Haitian subtype B infections in the United States and elsewhere around the world, subsequently emerged after a single migration of the virus out of Haiti in or around 1969 (19661972). Haiti appears to have the oldest HIV/AIDS epidemic outside sub-Saharan Africa and the most genetically diverse subtype B epidemic, which might present challenges for HIV-1 vaccine design and testing. The emergence of the pandemic variant of subtype B was an important turning point in the history of AIDS, but its spread was likely driven by ecological rather than evolutionary factors. Our results suggest that HIV-1 circulated cryptically in the United States for {approx}12 years before the recognition of AIDS in 1981. 10.1073/pnas.0705329104 JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences TI - The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the Americas and beyond SP - 0705329104 KW - evolution KW - hiv AU - Gilbert AU - Rambaut, Andrew AU - Wlasiuk, Gabriela AU - Spira, Thomas AU - Pitchenik, Arthur AU - Worobey, Michael PY - 2007/11/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705329104 ER -