OPV AIDS hypothesis

According to the oral polio vaccine (OPV) AIDS hypothesis, the AIDS pandemic originated from live polio vaccines prepared in chimpanzee tissue cultures (at least some of which were almost certainly contaminated with chimpanzee SIV) which were administered to up to one million African "volunteers" in the 1957-1960 period. The specific populations where the vaccine was given were the first in the world to experience HIV-1 infections and AIDS some five to twenty years later.

Related Topics:
AIDS - Pandemic - Polio vaccine

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In particular, the CHAT experimental oral vaccine is claimed to have been contaminated with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a group of viruses endemic to African primates and widely accepted as the origin of HIV. Recent evidence shows that CHAT may have been concentrated in African facilities using tissue cultures made from chimpanzee kidneys (more importantly, utilizing chimpanzee serum, containing macrophages, the target of immunodefficiency viruses).

Related Topics:
Simian immunodeficiency virus - HIV - Chimpanzee

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Proponents of the OPV AIDS hypothesis include journalist Edward Hooper, as well as scientists Louis Pascal and the late W.D. Hamilton.

Related Topics:
Edward Hooper - Louis Pascal - W.D. Hamilton

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The alternative, generally accepted natural transfer hypothesis holds that AIDS was accidentally spread to humans through the hunting and eating of the chimpanzee.

Related Topics:
Natural transfer hypothesis - Chimpanzee

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