New HIV virus Found
African officials are worried about the threat of a new strain of the HIV virus. A Cameroonian woman living in Paris, discovered a new mutation of the HIV-1 which may have originated from gorillas.
The original strain of the HIV virus are broken down into three categories; M, N, and O. All of these subtypes originate from chimpanzees, but these new prototypes seem to have established their own lineage in the Gorilla species. So far the research shows that there is no way this could have been a cross mutation of the chimpanzees distant cousin.
This new strain of the virus, will take on the classification; P. Most Chimpanzees transmit their viruses to humans through similar eating habits as a group M virus. Prior to the 62-year old Cameroonian moving to Paris, she lived in a rural part of Cameroon where she had not been in contact with gorillas. The origin of her newly found virus is still unknown.
