The HIV virus is a complex mix of various epidemics within several countries and regions of the world. It is unquestionably the most crucial public-health crisis of our time. Research has extended our understanding of how the virus reproduces, controls, and hides in a contaminated person. Even though our perception of pathogenesis and transmission of the virus has become more refined and prevention options have lengthened, a cure or protective vaccine remains intangible. HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this kind, it attacks the immune system. Lentiviruses are in turn part of a bigger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name 'lentivirus' literally means 'slow virus' because they take such a long time to create any unfavorable effects in the body. They have been found in plenty of different animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most appealing lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least 32,000 years old.
Scientists documented a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the cause of the HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (SIV) was most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus gradually spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic has spread to every country in the world and has infected 59 million persons worldwide, including 20 million who have already died. CDC estimates that about 56,000 people in the United States contracted HIV in 2006 . HIV is the virus that leads to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. In terms of fatalities, with more than 35 million deaths, the AIDS epidemic now ranks alongside the influenza pandemic of the early...