- More "evidence" that AIDS is a man-made disease.......although
this "conclusion/speculation" carefully avoided by the authors
in this Journal of Medical Primatology.
-
- If the epidemic didn't come from monkeys...........then
it certainly could have come from "the hand of man" -- unless
one wants to postulate an extraterrestrial origin.
-
- The "missing link" is that HIV was deliberately
seeded into the American gay and the African black population via government
and WHO-sponsored vaccine programs in the late 1970s. Also there is no
"link" between the outbreak of AIDS in American gays and the
outbreak in Africa.
-
- It's about time we stopped blaming primates......particularly
when tens of thousands have been locked up for decades in laboratories
and biowarfare labs -- and who have been subjected to all kinds of experimental
torture and virus exchange experiments. What scientific absurdity and chutzpah
to blame primates for the current decimation of black Africa from AIDS!!
And such a travesty to think that most doctors still believe this nonsense.
-
- Please forward this article on to interested others.
Hopefully more people will wake up to this obvious selective genocide program.
-
- Alan
-
- PS: For more information --- Go to www.google.com and
type-in "man-made AIDS" -- there are 134,000 citations!!!!!!
-
- Begin forwarded message:
-
- From: BiGoldberg@xxxxx
Date: September 30, 2004 11:33:20 AM PDT
To: BiGoldberg@xxxxx
Subject: No evidence that AIDS can be contracted from monkey/chimp &
10/04 JMP
-
- In the 10/04 Journal of Medical Primatology article titled
"AIDS as a zoonosis? Confusion over the origin of the virus and the
origin of the epidemics," Preston Marx et al. conclude:
-
- "These arguments indicate that viral cross-species
transmission is in itself not the only requirement for the generation of
epidemics, and that the ancestry of HIV should not be confused with the
origins of AIDS. Other factors must be required for HIV adaptation and
epidemic spread of SIV in the new human host. Therefore, AIDS is not a
zoonosis, but a human infectious disease of zoonotic origin."
-
- "With the advent of AIDS, avian flu, Ebola and SARS,
the question of what launches new epidemics and pandemics is extremely
important. The somewhat shocking answer is that we actually know nothing
about the factors that launch animal viruses into epidemics or pandemics.
Equally important is the question as to why most animal viruses fail to
reach a sustained human-to-human transmission. These are critically important
questions that are being bypassed. When we think zoonosis, we should think
of diseases like rabies. There is no evidence that a person can contract
AIDS from a monkey or chimpanzee. There is still a missing link."
-
- --------------------------------------
-
- Marx PA, Apetrei C, Drucker E. AIDS as a zoonosis? Confusion
over the origin of the virus and the origin of the epidemics. J Med Primatol
2004 Oct;33:220-226.
-
- Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane National
Primate Research Center, 18703 Three Rivers Road, Covington, LA 70433,
USA. Tel: (985) 871 6518; fax: (985) 871 6248; e-mail: pmarxj@tulane.edu
-
- Abstract: Based on findings demonstrating the simian
ancestry of HIV, AIDS has been reported to be a zoonosis. However, this
theory has never been proved and must seriously be questioned. Several
arguments show that HIV-AIDS is not a zoonosis. (i) If AIDS were a zoonosis,
there must be evidence of AIDS being directly acquired from an animal species,
as is rabies, a disease that is directly acquired from animals. (ii) Despite
long-term and frequent human exposure to SIV-infected monkeys in Africa,
only 11 cross-species transmission events are known, and only four of these
have resulted in significant human-to-human transmission, generating HIV-1
groups M and O and HIV-2 groups A and B. The closest relatives of SIVcpz
(HIV-1 group N) and of SIVsm (HIV-2 groups C-H) are extremely rare, with
only six HIV-1 group N-infected patients and only single individuals known
to be infected by HIV-2 groups C-H. SIV, while capable of cross-species
transmission, is thus poorly adapted for disease and epidemic spread. If
AIDS were a zoonosis that is capable of significant human-to-human spread,
there would be a plethora of founder subtypes and groups. (iii) Human exposure
to SIV is thousands of years old, but AIDS emerged only in the 20th century.
If AIDS were a zoonosis that spread into the human population, it would
have spread to the West during slave trade. (iv) Experimental transmission
of SIVs to different species of monkeys is often well controlled by the
new host, showing that the virus and not the disease is transmitted. Therefore,
we conclude that cross-species transmission of SIV does not in itself constitute
the basis for a zoonosis. Transmission per se is not the major requirement
for the generation of the AIDS epidemic. All HIVs do derive from simian
species, but AIDS does not qualify as a zoonosis and this explanation cannot
in itself account for the origin of AIDS epidemic. It is important to distinguish
AIDS from true zoonoses (e.g. rabies) because research is needed to understand
the processes by which animal viruses cause sustained human-to-human transmission,
epidemics and even pandemics. Much is known about emerging viruses, but
almost nothing is known about emerging viral diseases.
-
-
- Introduction
-
- The emergence of AIDS in the late 1970s in the USA was
the first sign of one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. In relatively
short time, AIDS became a leading cause of mortality in the world and a
cause of serious economic and social problems in of Central and southern
Africa. The prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) increased
rapidly, reaching apocalyptic levels of 30% by the end of the 20th century
in southern regions of Africa [61]. Significant economic consequences have
resulted from the reduction in life expectancy in some African nations
[61]. In addition, the number of orphans in regions most affected by HIV
has increased dramatically. A second wave of the epidemic reached Asia,
where billions of people are at risk, with tens of millions already infected
in India and China [61]. AIDS, therefore, is a major health problem in
need of rapid and equitable medical and political solutions. The development
of effective antiretroviral drugs (ARV) has partially controlled the problem
in developed countries [45]. However, in developing countries, ARV is not
yet available in spite of efforts by UNAIDS and other non-governmental
organizations to provide drugs at least to patients in the late stages
of infection [http://www.who.int/3by5/en/]. An effective prevention strategy
for controlling mother-to-child HIV transmission was implemented in some
African countries and has showed promising results [6,34]. The increased
transmission of resistant viruses reported in Western countries is a major
concern [60] and the magnitude of this problem may further increase with
the advent of ARVs in those regions where treatments are administered without
monitoring the virus infection. Effective vaccines are an ideal solution
to control in AIDS worldwide, but vaccine development has been too slow
to meet the need. Moreover, although moderate optimism was generated by
recent reports showing control of SIVmac replication in macaques [1,49,51,53],
the mechanism of immune protection in rhesus macaques and their relevance
to HIV-AIDS is not known [21].
-
- In this context, debates on the origin of HIV have generated
a dispute concerning the fundamental character of AIDS. Based on results
showing the simian origin of HIV [14,17,28], AIDS was treated as a zoonosis
[31]. This hypothesis was based on data showing cross-species transmission
of SIV [14,27]. Supporting data for SIV as the origin of HIV are (i) similarities
in viral genome organization; (ii) close phylogenetic relationships between
SIV and HIV; (iii) SIV prevalence in the natural host; (iv) geographic
coincidence and (v) plausible routes of transmission. Both the SIVsm/HIV-2
and SIVcpz/HIV-1 groups fulfill these criteria [13,17,28]. However, although
the simian source of HIV is acknowledged, the emergence of the AIDS epidemic
is not understood. Moreover, the idea that AIDS is a zoonosis has never
been proved and must be seriously questioned.
-
-
- Results and Discussion
-
- Why is this question important? Is this simply a semantic
argument? It is important to distinguish AIDS from true zoonoses (e.g.
rabies) because research is needed to understand the processes by which
animal viruses cause epidemics and even pandemics. Although much is known
about the origin of HIV, nothing is known about the mechanism of AIDS emergence.
This field of AIDS research does not end with the discovery of the source
of HIV. We must eventually understand the adaptive process(es) in the new
host that will (or perhaps more importantly will not) launch an emerging
disease. We know much about emerging viruses, but almost nothing about
emerging viral diseases.
-
- A strong rationale for studying the character of AIDS
is the social implications that have serious consequences for the ecology
of non-human primates. An incorrect assumption concerning the risk of acquiring
AIDS from simian bush meat may result in deliberate killing of monkeys
to prevent the spread of AIDS, a disastrous consequence for endangered
non-human primates (NHPs) that is likely to have little effect on the AIDS
epidemic.
-
- An illustration of the confusion caused by misinterpretations
of data on the origin of AIDS, the disease, is reaction of the non-scientific
press in reports showing that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1, the
virus. 'Chimpanzee meat blamed for AIDS epidemic'[23] was the headline
in a frontpage article in the New York Times. The first paragraph of the
article stated that 'Chimpanzees slaughtered for food in west central Africa
was the original source of AIDS'. Another was from the Daily telegraph
which stated that: 'AIDS started by humans eating chimps'. The fact that
the original scientific paper suggested that route of human infection with
SIVcpz was exposure to blood during hunting and butchering and not the
ingestion of meat [28] is incidental to the bigger issue that research
only identifies the source of the virus and not the mechanism by which
AIDS emerged. The corrected headline would have been, 'Chimpanzees slaughtered
for food in west central Africa was the original source of HIV'. The results
indicate that humans have been exposed to SIV-infected bush meat for thousands
of years, but AIDS only emerged in the 20th century. If AIDS were a simple
zoonosis with potential to become a health threat in humans as reported
[31], it would have appeared earlier in Africa and would have emerged in
the West during the era of slave trade when millions of Africans were brought
to North and South America [33].
-
-
- Definitions - what are zoonoses?
-
- The definition of a zoonosis is 'a disease of animals
that may be transmitted to man under natural conditions (e.g. brucellosis,
rabies)' [24] or 'a disease communicated from one kind of animal to another
or to a human being; usually restricted to diseases transmitted naturally
to man from animals' (Medical Dictionary Online, http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd).
Interestingly, in the Dictionary of Virology it is emphasized that the
term zoonosis is frequently misused: 'a zoonosis is a disease or an infection
naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans. However, the
term has been frequently misunderstood' [40]. The emphasis is on a zoonosis
being a naturally acquired disease from an animal source. There is no evidence
for AIDS being acquired directly from an animal source.
-
- Stedman's Medical Dictionary [56] provides more details.
Zooanthroponosis -- a zoonosis normally maintained by humans, but can be
transmitted to other vertebrates (e.g. ameobiasis to dogs, tuberculosis);
Amphixenosis -- a zoonosis maintained in nature by humans and lower animals
(e.g. staphylococcoses). Amphixenosis would be the correct term for AIDS
if it were a disease maintained in nature by animal to animal transmission
and humans to human transmission. But the argument is more than semantics.
-
-
- Arguments against AIDS as a zoonosis
-
- The following facts do not support AIDS as a zoonosis.
-
- 1. In spite of the large number of exposures to SIV-infected
monkeys in Central and West Africa [41,48], extensive molecular epidemiologic
studies have documented only 11 cross-species transmission events during
the last 50 years. Only four of these cross-over events resulted in epidemic
strains. They are HIV-1 group M, the major group of viruses of the pandemic,
group O, which is responsible for perhaps 5% of cases in Cameroon [4] and
groups A and B of HIV-2, which are the epidemic forms of HIV-2 [19,27].
Figure 1 shows some of the closest relatives of SIVcpz (HIV-1 group N)
and of SIVsm (HIV-2 groups C-G) (Fig. 2). These viruses are extremely rare
in humans, with only six HIV-1 group N-infected patients known [3,8] and
only single individuals infected by HIV-2 groups C-H (Fig. 1)[13,20,27,62].
These findings indicate that cross-species transmission of SIV is not in
itself sufficient for spread into new human populations to generate an
epidemic.
-
- The concept that viruses transmitted across species are
usually weak pathogens unsuited for initiating large-scale epidemics is
not unique to SIV. Direct transmission of avian influenza virus has relatively
lower epidemic potential compared with recombinant influenza viruses originating
from the pig 'mixing vessels'. Only 18 cases of H5N1 influenza infection
were recorded in Hong Kong [16]. These cases were severe, with a mortality
rate of more than 30%. However, no evidence of human-to-human transmission
of H5N1 virus was found [37]. Moreover, serological screening of poultry
workers directly exposed to the avian virus has shown that about 10% were
seropositive, and that the infection was asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic,
with no secondary cases reported [9]. These findings suggest a need for
adaptation of animal-origin viruses before they are capable of human-to-human
transmission.
-
- 2. Experimental cross-species transmissions of SIVs in
different species of monkeys have shown that in many cases the virus is
relatively non-pathogenic and cleared by the new host [54,57, C. Apetrei,
unpublished]. Moreover, some of the HIV-2 groups show low pathogenic potential
in the human host [13,27]. Although baboons were reported to develop AIDS
following infection with HIV-2 [5] it was clearly shown that serial passage
of the virus in baboons will result in an increased pathogenicity [39].
We recently had the opportunity to characterize the outcome of cross-species
transmission of SIVsm in three black mangabeys [2]. Although AIDS was observed
in one animal, the SIVsm infection was cleared in the remaining two. These
findings lead to the conclusion that cross-species transmission of a lentivirus
is not the only requirement for the selection of a pathogenic virus in
the new host and that studies have to be conducted to characterize the
mechanisms of virus adaptation to the new host.
-
- 3. The SIVs infections in their natural host are generally
asymptomatic in spite of high viral loads over long periods of time [10,12,22,29,43,50].
Immunodeficiency is extremely rare in African non-human primate hosts [2,38,46,55,58]
and generally occurs after long incubation periods that exceed the normal
life span of non-human primate species [46]. This finding reinforces the
assumption that a change in the pathological potential of the virus is
needed for SIV to become pathogenic in a new primate host [39]. In zoonotic
diseases such as rabies or West Nile encephalitis, the animal source is
also susceptible to the disease [11,52].
-
- 4. Finally, in Central Africa, humans have been exposed
for centuries to SIVs and the epidemic only emerged in the second half
of the last century, which suggests the intervention of some factor(s)
favoring the emergence of HIV. These factors could be deforestation, increase
of urbanization and travel in the 20th century [15]. In addition, it has
been postulated that the main factor behind the emergence of HIV in human
population may have been an increase in injections, unsterile needles and
syringes as well as unsafe transfusion practices. This factor may have
significantly promoted viral adaptation through serial passages [25,42]
or favor adaptation by other mechanisms such as recombination.
-
-
- And what if AIDS was a zoonosis?
-
- If AIDS was a zoonosis, then human exposure to SIV would
result in AIDS in the SIV-infected individual. Are there any data to support
this assumption? During the study of SIV infections in macaques, cases
of human laboratory workers becoming infected with SIV were reported. SIVsm
had been accidentally transmitted to humans in laboratories in the US but
in one case the infection was cleared [35] whereas in the second case (a
human infection with SIVsmB670), a persistent non-symptomatic infection
had been observed [36]. Macaques inoculated with SIVhu failed to develop
productive infection due to the occurrence of deletions in different genomic
regions [59]. This suggest that (i) SIVsm directly transmitted to humans
is of low pathogenicity and (ii) that the cross-transmitted SIVsm must
undergo adaptation into the new human host in order to replicate efficiently
to generate immune suppression and to initiate an epidemic.
-
- Most of the SIVs found thus far have not been grown in
vitro and are only known from sequences. However. it has been repeatedly
reported that most SIVs will replicate in human peripheral blood mononuclear
cells (PBMCs) [18,31,48,47]. This is an overstatement. For example, only
four SIVs of 13 reported in Cercopithecus monkeys have been isolated and
only one of them (SIVlhoest) is known to grow on human PBMCs. Remaining
viruses (SIVsun, SIVsyk and SIVtal) have a very restrictive host-related
tropism [7,26,30,32,44].
-
- These arguments indicate that viral cross-species transmission
is in itself not the only requirement for the generation of epidemics,
and that the ancestry of HIV should not be confused with the origins of
AIDS. Other factors must be required for HIV adaptation and epidemic spread
of SIV in the new human host. Therefore, AIDS is not a zoonosis [42], but
a human infectious disease of zoonotic origin.
-
-
- Conclusion
-
- With the advent of AIDS, avian flu, Ebola and SARS, the
question of what launches new epidemics and pandemics is extremely important.
The somewhat shocking answer is that we actually know nothing about the
factors that launch animal viruses into epidemics or pandemics. Equally
important is the question as to why most animal viruses fail to reach a
sustained human-to-human transmission. These are critically important questions
that are being bypassed. When we think zoonosis, we should think of diseases
like rabies. There is no evidence that a person can contract AIDS from
a monkey or chimpanzee. There is still a missing link.
|
