I created aids to deliberately depopulate humanity dr. Review of the origins of aids by jacques pepin aids origins. The author has not only provided convincing evidence of the origin of aids but has described the social and political contexts of how the disease came to spread from an isolated area of central africa to a worldwide situation. The origin and early epidemiology of the human immunodeficiency viruses hiv has been perplexing and controversial. The origin story of the worldwide aids epidemic excerpt author david quammen traces hiv from a forest in africa in his new book, investigating how it came to infect more than 60 million people. He is a mix of scientist, historian, sociologist and detective. It is now thirty years since the discovery of aids but its orig. Inspired by his own experiences working as an infectious diseases physician in africa, jacques pepin looks back to the early twentiethcentury. This excellent but frustrating book is essential reading for anyone deeply interested in the early history and dissemination of hivaids. Hahn2 1institute of evolutionary biologyand centre for immunity, infection and evolution, university of edinburgh, edinburgh eh9 3jt, united kingdom 2departments of medicine, perelman school of medicine, university of pennsylvania, philadelphia, pennsylvania 19104 correspondence. Jacques pepin provides a unique insight as an investigator who has spent years in several african countries and has contributed substantially to our knowledge of routes of transmission. Hiv is the same virus that can lead to aids acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Jacques pepin looks back at the events that triggered the emergence of hiv aids in africa and its subsequent development into a modern pandemic. The origins of aids by jacques pepin cambridge university press. As many as a million africans were given oral polio vaccines. Medical sciences unintentional role in introducing aids to the human population.
In 1986, a second type of hiv, called hiv2, was isolated from aids patients in west africa. Interest must be deep because the author spares few details about colonial medical systems in the former french and belgian territories, congolese politics around independence, and a host of other obscure matters. Origin of aids linked to colonial practices in africa monday marks the 25th anniversary of the first report of aids. Pdf download read online the origins of aids pdf free. Quest for the origin of aids controversial book spurs search for how the worldwide scourge of hiv began william carlsen, chronicle staff writer. Hahn2 1institute of evolutionary biologyand centre for immunity, infection and evolution, university of edinburgh, edinburgh eh9 3jt, united kingdom 2departments of medicine, perelman school of medicine, university of pennsylvania, philadelphia, pennsylvania 19104. Key among these hiv origin theories is the so called cut hunter theory in which a human, allegedly african native, received a bloody wound or infected splash while preparing a chimpanzee carrying a similar virus i. In randy shilts history of aids, and the band played. As far as the origins of aids are concerned, unless some completely new evidence emerges, it will be difficult to come up with a better explanation than pepins. Today, hiv human immunodeficiency virus, remains one of the largest pandemics in the world. This book is a scientific account of the origin of aids.
In poetry, fiction, reportage, plays, and critical thought, a generation of writers reckoned with one of its definitive events and the result was a body of work that educates even as it confronts such topics as. Now, thanks to decades of research and medical advances, we know much more about the virus and how to. For that slender subgroup, the wise, it would be an excellent text to prepare for the next pandemic. Overall, jacques pepin has written an excellent scientific account of the origins of aids.
Many aids activists simply dismiss the manmade theory as a distraction which interferes with hiv testing and treatment, and the search for a cure. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Sivcpz, which is the viral origin of hiv1, and sivsmm induce simian aids in chimpanzees and macaques, respectively. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome aids of humans is caused by two lentiviruses, human immunodeficiency viruses types 1 and 2 hiv1 and hiv2. Extensively referenced, this wellwritten book reads like a detective story, while at the same time providing a didactic introduction to epidemiology and evolutionary genetics. The origin of aids and hiv may not be what you have learned. The ghastly disease aids burst upon the scene in the early 1980s. The history of aids has been deliberately whitewashed to obscure its manmade origin. While various subgroups of the virus acquired human infectivity at different times, the global pandemic had its origins in the emergence of one specific strain hiv1 subgroup m in leopoldville in the belgian congo in the 1920s. Both hivs are the result of multiple crossspecies transmissions of simian. The origin of the aids pandemic has been traced back to 1920s kinshasa, in what is now the democratic republic of congo, scientists say. Hiv, aids, history hiv is thought to have originated in nonhuman primates in subsaharan africa and was transferred to humans late in the 19th or early in the 20th century. The complexities and biological explanations are clearly defined and described, so no special knowledge is required beforehand, although it can occasionally get a bit dense with details, which is unavoidable in a book like this.
Jacques pepin looks back at the events that triggered the emergence of hivaids in africa and its. A great book on the evolutionary origin of hiv and the possible role of cultural and medical practices in central africa in the dissemination of the virus. Science this is a beautifully written book, which explains epidemiological and scientific concepts such as phylogenetic analysis in clear and simple language. Jacques pepins the origins of aids is an amazing book, one of those titles that will be cited by future generations of writers as a foundational text for its field. I created aids to deliberately depopulate humanity dr robert gallo courtesy. Here, we describe the origins and evolution of these viruses, and the circumstances that led to the aids pandemic. This compact history is a refreshingly fair account by a firstclass mind with no axes to grind. This excellent but frustrating book is essential reading for anyone deeply interested in the early history and dissemination of hiv aids. The origins of aids takes us to the former belgian congo to investigate this controversial claim put forward by journalist edward hooper.
I started reading jonathan engels the epidemic a global history of aids, because i am still looking for information about the spread if hiv thats not focused primarily on the us, or on the origins of aids, which tend to. Generally speaking, a great number of pathways or routes can be traced for solving the enigma of hiv origin. David mabey, sexually transmitted infections superb. I am a biologist but really like reading popular science books and had to have this book. Dr leonard horovitz in the interests of extending human educational knowledge. Like few epidemics before it, aids was documented in print as it swept the u. Aids is caused by a human immunodeficiency virus, which originated in nonhuman primates in central and west africa. Though the cdc discovered all major routes of the diseases transmissionas well as that female partners of aids positive men could be infectedin 1983, the public considered aids a. Quest for the origin of aidscontroversial book spurs. The search for the origin of hiv is complex and long, with blind alleys, red herrings, false trails, research differences in short, a fascinating detective story that still hasnt finished. The bestknown of the latter, the opv aids theory, was exhaustively detailed in the 1999 book the river, by author edward hooper. The origin and evolution of hiv is an important subject in aids researches 3.
He shows how the disease was first transmitted from chimpanzees to man, and then how colonization, urbanization, prostitution, and public health campaigns combined to fuel the spread of the hiv. Pepin has assembled a vast amount of information from a wide variety of sources, and paints a clear, coherent and convincing account of the origins of aids. The origins of aids, naturally, takes a look at the ultimate origins of aids, as a virus that somehow managed to cross over from the chimpanzee populations of westcentral africa a century ago to that regions human population. Inspired by his own experiences working as an infectious diseases physician in africa, jacques pepin looks back to the early twentiethcentury events in africa that triggered the emergence of hiv aids and traces its subsequent development into the most dramatic and destructive epidemic. A compelling new account of the origins and development of hivaids before the disease was first identified in 1981. Jacques pepin this compelling new account traces the origins and development of the most dramatic and. The tragic history of hivaids is a subject that everybody should read up on.
These are books for the people who think that the reagans and thatchers of our world responded to the aids crisis in a way that was either helpful or humane. Most books about aids begin in 1981, when gay american men began dying of a rare pneumonia. Science this is a beautifully written book, which explains epidemiological and scientific concepts. The polio vaccine cbc witness, 2004 on april 12, 1955 jonas salks polio vaccine was first licensed for public use in the u. Hiv1 is more virulent, easily transmitted and is the cause of the vast majority of hiv.
A book theorizes that the aids epidemic began with the infection of a hunter by a chimp and spread with health clinics reuse of needles. Quest for the origin of aids controversial book spurs. The origins of aids by jacques pepin 9780521186377. Two types of hiv the virus that is the primary cause of aids worldwide is now called hiv1.
The aim of the book this book sets out not to be a biology text book but follows the hunt for the hiv virus and its. The origins of aids by jacques pepin cambridge university press, which came out in october 2011, has received a fair amount of attention in the press, almost all of which has been complimentary. Though this particular grim reaper has not long stalked among us, it has taken millions of. An hivaids reading list rah froemmingcarter apr 1, 2016 hiv aids part in our global consciousness over the past three and a half decades has been and continues to be large, and this collection of books and voices are only touching on a tiny part of that whole.
Origin of aids linked to colonial practices in africa. Most people believe that the origin of hiv, the aids virus, derives from some natural evolutionary event. The origins of aids by jacques pepin nook book ebook. The origin story of the worldwide aids epidemic excerpt. Download read online the origins of aids pdf or read read online the origins of aids pdf online books in pdf, epub and mobi format. The history of aids and hiv was initially shrouded in misunderstanding and fear. Researchers found the earliest case of hiv in a blood sample of a man from the democratic republic of congo.
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