HIV originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1920. It is believed that a similar virus (called Simian Immunodeficiency Virus or SIV) crossed from chimpanzees to humans via blood contact or consumption. It is a common practice in these regions to eat animals killed in the jungle (called “bushmeat”) which can spread a variety of dangerous diseases (including Ebola). Regardless of its source, its transmission through sexual intercourse and lack of defining symptoms allowed it to spread almost entirely unnoticed for decades.
The virus remained largely undetected until the 1980s, at which point it was noticed that small groups of homosexual men were experiencing opportunistic and sometimes rare diseases. Eventually, it was discovered that they had a virus that affected their immune system. This led to a large amount of social stigma related to the disease, and put the homosexual community at risk both from the disease and from social repercussions. In fact, the disease was first called “gay-related immune deficiency” (or GRID). Eventually it was discovered that anyone could get HIV, but it was not spread through casual contact. However, although heterosexual males and females reported infections beginning in 1983, the stigma associated with the disease remained. This stigma continues to prevent people from reporting disease, and thus impedes effective and safe treatment which leads to more infections.
The number of infected people worldwide grew explosively, even as our growing understanding of the disease allowed us to treat it more effectively. Over the period from 1980-1999 the number of cases grew from 270 to 33 million. While a large part of this growth is due to our increased ability to find and diagnose the disease, these numbers still show a high rate of infectivity. Today, global organizations focused on treatment and prevention have made progress in combatting the disease, but there remains a large population of people in need of treatment for HIV and an even larger population at risk of contracting the disease.