HIV Existed Decades Before The Outbreak

Scientists have traced the origins of HIV back to the early 1900s. While the world only realized the virus existed in the 1980s, it silently spread for over seventy years.

Researchers believe the virus jumped from primates to humans in Central Africa during the turn of the century. It remained largely hidden in isolated populations for generations as travel and urbanization were limited. Once global transportation networks expanded, the virus traveled rapidly across the world. Studying these early cases helps modern scientists understand how viruses hide in plain sight for decades.