Key Facts. The first cases of what would later become known as AIDS were reported in the United States (U.S.) in June of 1981. Today, there are more than 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S. and there are more than 35,000 new infections each year.Jun 7, 2021
How did AIDS start in the first place?
HIV infection in humans came from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa. The chimpanzee version of the virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV) was probably passed to humans when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came in contact with their infected blood.
Where was the first case of AIDS virus?
In Africa, HIV–the virus that causes AIDS–had jumped from chimpanzees to humans sometime early in the 20th century. To date, the earliest known case of HIV-1 infection in human blood is from a sample taken in 1959 from a man who'd died in Kinshasa in what was then the Belgian Congo.
When was AIDS first reported in the world?
The HIV.gov Timeline reflects the history of the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic from the first reported cases in 1981 to the present—where advances in HIV prevention, care, and treatment offer hope for a long, healthy life to people who are living with, or at risk for, HIV and AIDS.