42 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, July 14 - July 20, 2000
Specialist discusses monkeys and the origin of AIDS
Question: Is it true that AIDS
came from monkeys in Africa?
Answer: Probably. Modern
DNA and RNA analysis allows
for a much more direct means of
telling if two species are related -
just look at the organism's DNA
or RNA. Closely related species
will share a large part of their
DNA/RNA sequences. The DNA
of two monkey species, let's say
the macaque monkey and the
African green monkey, will share
much of this DNA homology,
indicating that they are at least
distant relatives, and at one time
long ago, may have originated
from the same ancestor.
Similarly, viruses can be ana-
lyzed to see who is related to
whom. Simian immunodeficiency
virus (SIV) causes an AIDS-like
syndrome in macaques, a com-
mon type of monkey in Africa.
This virus may have been present
in the monkey population of
Africa for centuries and inflicts a
more rapid blow to the immune
system than HIV does in humans.
Infected monkeys often die within
five months. The SIV virus is
very similar in its RNA sequence
to the HIV-2 virus, sharing about
75 percent of its
RNA sequence
in common.
The SIV virus
is also related
and similar to
HIV- 1, sharing
about 40 per-
cent RNA
homology. This OLEWILER
is "the kind of
similarity between the monkey
virus and the human virus that
leads most virologists to theorize
that SIV, HIV-2 and HIV-l may
have been descendants of a com-
mon ancestor virus many years
before human infection was real-
ized.
Africa is an area where these
monkey species are prominent,
and the SIV and HIV-2 viruses are
endemic. It is probably no acci-
dent that the African AIDS pan-
demic is more established than
anywhere else in the world. In
some villages of Zambia, Uganda
and Rwanda, more than 25 per-
cent of pregnant women are HIV-
infected. In Cote d'Ivoire and
Kenya, 90 percent of the prosti-
tutes are infected. It seems likely
that this is the geographic region
conference room at Beebe
Medical Center. Support group
members are involved in educat-
ing the public about the hazards
of tobacco and discuss the spe-
cial needs of laryngectomes and
their methods of communicating.
For more information, call Kelly
Crockett, speech therapist, at
645-3235.
Briefly
SHARP Center offers
free mv testing
In addition to Sussex County
AIDS Committee providing free
and anonymous testing from 4 to
6 p.m. every Thursday, SHARP
Center offers free and anony-
mous testing by appointment
five days a week. SHARP
Center, located at 107B South
St., Rehoboth Beach, uses
OraSure, an oral test that does
not require any blood to be
drawn. For more information,
call Jeanne at 644-1094.
Surviving Partners
meets Saturdays
Surviving Partners, a support
group for those who have lost
loved ones to AIDS, meets at 7
p.m., every other Saturday. For
more information, call Ward at
645-1854.
P.LActive offers
evening support group
EL.Active, a nonprofit
HIV[AIDS service organization,
is offering early evening support
groups at 5 p.m., Tuesdays, at St.
Peter's Parish House, Second
and Mulberry streets, Lewes.
Bosom Buddies
meets July 18
Bosom Buddies support group
will meet at 3 p.m., Tuesday,
July 18, in the Tunnell Cancer
Center conference room. The
group is for women living with
breast cancer, whether they are
newly diagnosed, are currently
undergoing treatment or are
long-time survivors. Call 645-
3770 for more information.
Laryngectomy group
to meet July 19
Let's Talk, a laryngectomy
support group, meets the third
Wednesday of each month from
3:15 to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday,
July 19, in the Tunnell Cancer
where HIV started.
How did the SIV virus mutate
into HIV and eventually cross
from monkey to humans? No one
knows. One interesting theory
takes note that in the 1910s,
syringes and needles were intro-
duced into the African Great
Lakes region. Communities did
exist that considered the inocula-
tion of blood from other people
OR from certain species of mon-
keys to be a powerful magical
remedy for illness. This would
have provided an excellent way to
introduce the SIV illness into
humans, where it could have
learned how to evolve into HIV. It
would have been very possible for
HIV transmission among isolated
African tribes to have continued
for decades, unnoticed by the rest
of the world, before it was finally
"discovered" in the United States
and Europe. HIV was identified as
the cause of AIDS by French
researchers in 1983.
Editor's note: Dr. Scott
Olewiler is an infectious disease Center. For details or to make an
specialist at Beebe Medical appointment, ca116453196.
FREE ANONYMOUS
HIV
TESTING
every Thursday at the
SCAC Office from
4:00- 6:00 pm
No Appointment
Necessary
Monday - Friday
at the SHARP Center
By Appointment Only
For more information
or directions contact:
Sussex County
AIDS Committee
107 South Street
Rehoboth Beach
SCAC 644-1090
SHARP Crt. 644-1094
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