The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged from an African Forest

by David Quammen

  18. Gottlieb’s barebones text: Gottlieb et al. (1981), 250.

  19. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report carried Friedman-Kien’s communication: Friedman-Kien. (1981), 305–306.

  19. saw a “syndrome” that seemed “strikingly similar”: Pitchenik et al. (1983), 353–354.

  19. who became notorious as “Patient Zero”: Shilts (1987), 23. But see also Auerbach et al. (1984), 489.

  19. as the man who “carried the virus out of Africa”: e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaëtan_Dugas.

  20. even “gorgeous” in some eyes: Shilts (1987), 21, 47.

  20. Dugas himself reckoned: Shilts (1987), 83.

  20. and say: “I’ve got gay cancer”: Shilts (1987), 165.

  20. “Although the cause of AIDS is unknown”: Auerbach et al. (1984), 490.

  21. Randy Shilts later transformed: Shilts (1987), 23.

  21. HIV had already arrived in North America when: Gilbert et al. (2007), 18566, 18568.

  22. A Danish doctor named Grethe Rask: Shilts (1987), 4–7; Bygbjerg (1983), 925.

  22. “I’d better go home to die.”: Shilts (1987), 6. Shilts seems to have interviewed Bygbjerg (but not Rask herself), as well as drawing from Bygbjerg (1983).

  22. Nine years later, a sample of Rask’s blood serum: Hooper (1999), 95, 879.

  23. GRID was one, standing for: Shilts (1987), 121; Engel (2006), 6.

  23. Some doctors preferred ACIDS: Shilts (1987), 138.

  23. “Kaposi’s sarcoma and opportunistic infections”: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, June 11, 1982, 294.

  23. By September 1982, MMWR had switched: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, September 24, 1982, 507.

  24. Montagnier’s research focused mainly: Montagnier (2000), 27–30, 38, 47.

  25. “AIDS could not be caused by a conventional bacterium”: Montagnier (2000), 42.

  25. The only known human retrovirus as of early 1981: Gallo (1991), 91–93, 99.

  25. A related retrovirus, feline leukemia virus: Barré-Sinoussi (2003a), 844.

  25. Montagnier’s group in Paris, screening cells: Barré-Sinoussi et al. (1983), 868; Montagnier (2000), 57. Barré-Sinoussi and Montagnier didn’t name it LAV in the original 1983 paper, but slightly later.

  26. Gallo’s group came up with: Gallo et al. (1983), 865–866; Gallo (1991), 92–93, 99, 117. Gallo uses Arabic numerals (e.g., HTLV-1, HTLV-2) in his book; but in the scientific papers, he and others use Roman numerals.

  26. He called this newest bug HTLV-III: Gallo et al. (1984), 500, 502; Popovic et al. (1984), 497.

  26. An editorial in the same issue of Science: Marx (1983), 806.

  26. Then again, neither was Gallo’s: Gallo and Montagnier (1988), 44; Gallo (1991), 186; Crewdson (2002), 163–166.

  26. Montagnier had personally delivered: Montagnier (2000), 60–62, 68–69.

  27. Meanwhile the third team of researchers: Crewdson (2002), 143, 158.

  27. “more than 4000 individuals in the world”: Levy et al. (1984), 840.

  27. “Our data cannot reflect a contamination”: Levy et al. (1984), 842.

  28. A distinguished committee of retrovirologists: Crewdson (2002), 179–180, 236.

  29. There she saw a weird problem: Essex and Kanki (1988), 67; Letvin et al. (1983), 2718–2719.

  29. they did find a new retrovirus: Daniel et al. (1985); Kanki et al. (1985b).

  29. for what soon would be renamed HIV: i.e., they referred to the AIDS virus as HTLV-III and called their macaque virus STLV-III.

  29. This discovery, they wrote: Daniel et al. (1985) and Kanki et al. (1985b), last paragraph of each.

  29. Only a single sentence at the end: Kanki et al. (1985b), 1201.

  30. Kanki and Essex looked at other Asian macaques: Essex and Kanki (1988), 67–68.

  30. “In 1985, the highest rates”: Essex and Kanki (1988), 68.

  30. Kanki grew isolates of live virus: Kanki et al. (1985b), 952–953.

  31. “must have evolved mechanisms”: Essex and Kanki (1988), 68.

  31. The samples arrived with coded labeling: Essex and Kanki (1988), 69; Kanki et al. (1986), 238.

  31. Despite one possible misstep: Kanki et al. (1986), 238; regarding contamination and confusion, cf. Montagnier (2000), 80–81; Hooper (1999), 108; Kestler et al. (1988), 619, and Essex and Kanki’s reply to Kestler, same issue, 621–622; Barin et al. (1985), 1387.

  32. It more closely resembled SIV strains: Barin et al. (1985), 1387.

  32. Montagnier and his colleagues screened the blood: Montagnier (2000), 79–81; Clavel et al. (1986), 343–344.

  32. This man showed symptoms of AIDS: Clavel et al. (1986), 343–344; Montagnier (2000), 79–80.

  32. Eventually, when all parties embraced the label: Clavel (1986), 346; Montagnier (2000), 81.

  33. Possibly it was already with us: See Fukasawa et al. (1988), 460; Mulder (1988), 396.

  33. when a group of Japanese researchers: Fukasawa et al. (1988), 457.

  33. The nucleotide sequence of its retrovirus: Fukasawa et al. (1988), 457, 459; Mulder (1988), 396.

  34. A commentary in the journal Nature: Mulder (1988), 396.

  35. had noticed a leprosy-like infection: Gormus et al. (2004), 216.

  35. not known to be transmissible from people: Wolf et al. (1985), 529.

  35. The animal in question, a sooty mangabey: Gormus (2004), 216. The story unfolds from Gormus (in retrospect) to Wolf et al. (1985) to Murphey-Corb et al. (1986).

  36. revealed that the virus was quite prevalent among them: Murphey-Corb et al. (1986), 437.

  36. Other investigators soon found it too: Hirsch et al. (1989), 389, and its citation notes 9–11.

  37. Now there were three known variants: Kanki (1986); Daniel et al. (1985). The SIV name came later, however, after they stopped using HTLV and STLV.

  37. “These results suggest that SIVsm has infected macaques”: Hirsch et al. (1989), 389.

  38. HIV-2 is confined mostly to West African countries: this sentence and the next three, Reeves and Doms (2002), 1254–1255.

  39. Peeters along with several associates was tasked: this paragraph, Peeters et al. (1989), 625–626.

  40. announcing the new virus and calling it SIVcpz: Peeters et al. (1989), 625, 627. More precisely, they called it SIVcpz-GAB-1, indicating not just the new strain of virus but the identity of the specific isolate.

  40. “It has been suggested that human AIDS”: Peeters et al. (1989), 629.

  40. In 1992 Peeters published another: Peeters et al. (1992), 448.

  41. not a single one had yielded traces of SIVcpz: Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2488.

  42. by the year 2000 seven groups of HIV-2: Reeves and Doms (2002), 1253.

  43. So did the later addition, group H: Santiago et al. (2005), 12515.

  43. The eventual fourth kind, group P: Plantier et al. (2009), 1–2.

  43. Scientists think that each of those twelve groups: Reeves and Doms (2002), 1253 regarding HIV-2; Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2487, regarding HIV-1.

  44. In September of that year, a young print-shop worker: Zhu and Ho (1995), 503; Hooper (1999), 21–22, 122 ff.

  44. Thirty-one years later, in the era of AIDS: Corbitt et al. (1990), cited in Zhu and Ho (1995).

  45. must have reflected a laboratory mistake: Zhu and Ho (1995), 503–504.

  45. A team of researchers including Tuofu Zhu: Zhu and Ho (1995), 503–504.

  45. a small tube of blood plasma, drawn from a Bantu man: Nahmias et al. (1986), 1279.

  45. the only one that tested unambiguously positive: Zhu et al. (1998), 594.

  46. In their paper, published in February 1998: Zhu et al. (1998).

  46. DRC60 was a biopsy specimen: Worobey et al. (2008), 661.

  50. with a spillover as early as 1908: Worobey et al. (2008), 661.

  51. This one was heterodox and highly controversial: Hooper (2001), 803. Hooper presents somewhat different numbers in Hooper (1999), 265–277, 378–379.

  51. v
iral or bacterial contamination of a vaccine: e.g., with SV40 in some of the Salk vaccines, Shah and Nathanson (1976), 3.

  51. a group of Italian children: Willrich (2001), 181.

  51. Smallpox vaccine administered to kids in Camden: Willrich (2001), 171–176, 192, 201.

  51. a batch of diphtheria antitoxin prepared in St. Louis: Willrich (2001), 178.

  51. Formaldehyde was sometimes added: Oshinsky (2006), 281.

  52. some of the early batches of the Salk polio vaccine: Shah and Nathanson (1976), 2; Shah (2004), 2061.

  52. That the vaccine in question had been given to Africans: Koprowski (2001); Plotkin (2001).

  52. Koprowski himself visited Stanleyville: Hooper (1999), 267–273, 523–524.

  52. Children and adults lined up trustingly: Hooper (1999), 268–269, 273–274.

  52. roughly seventy-five thousand kids: Hooper (1999), 275.

  53. chimpanzee kidneys drawn from animals infected: Hooper (2001), 803–805, versus Plotkin (2001), 815–816.

  53. The result of that flawed vaccinating: Hooper (2001), 803.

  53. certain people have argued: e.g., Hooper, Louis Pascal, William Hamilton, Tom Curtis.

  53. had put Tom Curtis onto the story: i.e., Blaine Elswood, as mentioned in Curtis (1992), 3 (pagination of digital version).

  53. “The origin of the AIDS virus is of no importance”: Curtis (1992), 21.

  53. “It’s distracting, it’s nonproductive”: Curtis (1992), 21.

  53. lawyers for Hilary Koprowski filed a lawsuit: Hooper (1999), 254, 456.

  54. “The controversy surrounding the source of the Nile”: Hooper (1999), 4.

  59. he screened just 27 of the 813 tissue blocks: Worobey (2008), 661, 663.

  60. They both fell within the range: Worobey (2008), 661–662.

  60. differed by 12 percent between the two versions: actually, 11.7 percent: Worobey (2008), 662.

  60. he placed the most recent common ancestor: Worobey (2008), 663, Table 1.

  60. “Our estimation of divergence times”: Worobey (2008), 663.

  62. “the most persuasive evidence yet”: Weiss and Wrangham (1999), 385.

  62. their analysis of viral strains linked it: Gao et al. (1999), 436–437.

  62. on viruses drawn from captive chimps: the new chimp in Gao’s data was Marilyn, captive in the United States: Gao et al. (1999), 437.

  63. Mario L. Santiago topped a list of coauthors: Santiago et al. (2002), 465.

  63. he invented methods: Santiago et al. (2002), 465.

  65. they collected 446 samples of chimpanzee dung: Keele et al. (2006), 523.

  66. prevalence rates up to 35 percent: Keele et al. (2006), 525, map on 523.

  66. a twig amid the same little branch: Keele et al. (2006), 524–525, Figures 3 and 4.

  67. shockingly similar to HIV-1 group M: Keele et al. (2006), 525.

  68. “We show here that the SIVcpzPtt strain”: Keele et al. (2006), 526.

  68. “In humans, direct exposure to animal blood”: Hahn et al. (2000), 611.

  68. “The likeliest route of chimpanzee-to-human transmission”: Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2492.

  70. Léopoldville contained fewer than ten thousand people: Worobey (2008), 663, Figure 3 and its caption, citing Chitnis et al. (2000).

  70. “a hard mission field,” according to one Swedish missionary: Martin (2002), 20, 25.

  70. due to colonial policies that discouraged married men: Pepin (2011), 70–73. The rest of this paragraph, and the next: Pepin (2011).

  71. a lively market in smoked fish: Harms (1981), 229.

  71. Ivory, rubber, and slaves were traded there: Harms (1981), 227–229.

  72. By 1940, its population had edged up: Chitnis et al. (2000), 6.

  74. apes, elephants, lions, and a few other species were protected: Wildlife Justice, No. 2 (May 2006), 8.

  74. Drori gave me a LAGA newsletter: Wildlife Justice, No. 4 (November 2006).

  74. Drori’s newsletter mentioned a raid: Wildlife Justice, No. 4 (November 2006), 5.

  75. Another bust, against a dealer: Wildlife Justice, No. 4 (November 2006), 5; Wildlife Justice, No. 2 (May 2006), 2, 12.

  76. a driver unloading chimpanzee arms and legs: Peterson (2003), 46, 159.

  76. roughly 5 million metric tons of bushmeat: Peterson (2003), 65.

  80. where Karl Amman saw chimpanzee arms stashed: Peterson (2003), 46.

  80. Chimp fecal samples from hereabouts: Keele et al. (2006), 525.

  84. possibly of the Mpiemu or the Kako: Giles-Vernick (2002), 22.

  94. A study of bushmeat traffic in and around Ouesso: this sentence and the rest of the paragraph: Hennessey and Rogers (2008), 179–183.

  109. the prevailing impression was that it’s harmless in chimpanzees: e.g., Novembre et al. (1997), 11748, 11752.

  109. When a single lab chimpanzee did progress to AIDS: Novembre et al. (1997), 4086.

  110. “survived their own AIDS-like pandemic”: Cohen (2002), 15. Cohen was reporting on de Groot et al. (2002).

  110. a naturally occurring infection in more than forty different species: Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2487.

  110. it hasn’t shown up among wild monkeys in either Asia: Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2487.

  110. none of those SIVs seems to cause immunodeficiency: Sharp and Hahn (2010), 2490.

  110. a close similarity between their respective SIVs: Sharp et al. (2005), 3893.

  111. That length of time would allow divergence: Sharp et al. (2005), 3893.

  111. noticed that SIVcpz seems to be a hybrid virus: Bailes et al. (2003), 1713.

  111. Possibly just hundreds of years ago: Wertheim and Worobey (2009), 5–6; Pepin (2011), 41, citing Wertheim and Worobey (2009).

  112. What the Nottingham group suggested: Bailes (2003), 1713.

  124. these all came together in a paper: Keele et al. (2009), 515.

  126. a series of well-intended campaigns: Pepin (2011), 117; Pepin and Labbé (2008).

  127. 2 million syringes were produced globally in 1930: Drucker et al. (2001), 1989. See also Marx et al. (2001), 914.

  127. treated 5,347 trypanosomiasis cases: Pepin (2011), 122, 163.

  127. “The Congo contains various health institutions”: Beheyt (1953), quoted in Pepin (2011), 164.

  128. “The large number of patients”: Beheyt (1953), quoted in Pepin (2011), 164.

  128. performed 207,089 injections of tryparsamide: this sentence and the rest of the paragraph: Pepin (2011), 125–128.

  128. doubt that needles were necessary in any such way: Worobey (2008), in Volberding et al. (2008), 18.

  129. It dates back more than a decade: Marx et al. (2001), 911.

  129. Jacques Pepin picked up where Preston Marx left off: Pepin and Frost (2011), 421–422.

  130. a clinic known as the Dispensaire Antivénérien: Pepin (2011), 160.

  130. “consisted of thousands of asymptomatic free women”: Pepin (2011), 161.

  130. Any free woman or male migrant: this sentence and the rest of the paragraph, Pepin (2011), 160–163.

  132. The HIV-1 group M lineage became split: Taylor et al. (2008), 1591; Worobey (2008), in Volberding (2008), 15.

  132. Subtype A got to East Africa: Pepin (2011), 212–213.

  132. Subtype D established itself alongside subtypes A and C: Taylor et al. (2008), 1595, Table 2; Hemelaar et al. (2006), W17, Table 2, and W18, Table 3.

  133. subtype B crossed from Léopoldville to Haiti: Gilbert et al. (2007), 18566, 18568, Figure 2.

  133. new support for one plausible old scenario: The recognition of Haitian professionals having gone to Congo after Independence dates back at least to Shilts (1987), 392–393. This paragraph and the next: Pepin (2011), 187–190.

  134. Someone brought back to Haiti: Gilbert et al. (2007), 18566.

  134. those samples revealed that 7.8 percent of the women: Boulos et al. (1990), 7222–7223, and cited in Pepin (2011), 196.

  134. “there must have been a very effecti
ve amplification mechanism”: Pepin (2011), 196.

  135. hundreds of paid plasma donors in Mexico: Pepin (2011), 199.

  135. a quarter million luckless donors in China: Pepin (2011), 200.

  135. reports of a plasmapheresis center in Port-au-Prince: Pepin (2011), 201–202; Severo (1972). Pepin cites Severo, but I used Severo directly. Pepin hyphenates the name, Hemo-Caribbean, but Severo doesn’t and there’s still such a company, listed online as Hemo Caribbean.

  136. ordered that Gorinstein’s plasmapheresis center be closed: Pepin (2011), 202.

  136. Nor did the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report mention it: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 9, 1982, 31(26): 354.

  136. Randy Shilts didn’t mention it: though he came close, discussing Haitians and blood, e.g., Shilts (1987), 135.

  137. beginning in 1980 he noticed: Pitchenik et al. (1983), 277, 278, table.

  137. He had sounded the first alarm about Haitians: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 9, 1982, 31(26): 354ff.

  138. Tom Gilbert managed to amplify: Gilbert et al. (2007), 18569.

  139. walked into the office of Dr. Michael Gottlieb: Gottlieb et al. (1981), 250.

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