1959: Congolese man
One of the earliest documented HIV-1 infections was discovered in a preserved blood sample taken in 1959 from a man from Leopoldville, Belgian Congo (now
Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of the Congo).
[25] However, it is unknown whether this anonymous person ever developed AIDS and died of its complications.
[26]
[edit] 1960: Congolese woman
A second early documented HIV-1 infection was discovered in a preserved
lymph node biopsy sample taken in 1960 from a woman from Leopoldville, Belgian Congo.
[11]
[edit] 1969: Robert R.
In 1969, a 15-year-old
African-American male known to medicine as
Robert R. died at the
St. Louis City Hospital from aggressive
Kaposi's sarcoma. AIDS was suspected as early as 1984, and in 1987, researchers at
Tulane University School of Medicine confirmed this, finding HIV-1 in his preserved blood and tissues. The doctors who worked on his case at the time suspected he was a prostitute, though the patient did not discuss his sexual history with them in detail.
[27][28][29][30][31]
[edit] 1969: Arvid Noe
In 1976, a
Norwegian sailor named
Arvid Noe, his wife, and his nine-year-old daughter died of AIDS. The sailor had first presented symptoms in 1969, eight years after he first spent time in ports along the West African coastline. A gonorrhoea infection during his first African voyage shows he was sexually active at this time. Tissue samples from the sailor and his wife were tested in 1988 and found to contain the HIV-1 virus (Group O).
[32][33][34]
[edit] Spread to the western hemisphere
HIV-1 strains are thought to have arrived in the United States from Haiti in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
[35] HIV-1 is believed to have arrived in Haiti from central Africa, possibly through professional contacts with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
[36]
Because of the long incubation period of HIV (up to a decade or longer) before symptoms of AIDS appear, and because of the initially low incidence, AIDS was not noticed at first. By the time the first reported cases of AIDS were found in large United States cities, the prevalence of HIV infection in some communities had passed 5%.
[37] Worldwide, HIV infection has spread from urban to rural areas, and has appeared in regions such as
China and
India.