A woman who tested positive for HIV has been found to be carrying a new strain of the virus which is thought to have originally been passed to humans by gorillas.
The new strain was identified in a 62-year-old woman who moved to Paris after living in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Three other strains of HIV-1 have previously been identified and are all thought to have derived from a similar virus carried by chimpanzees.
Lesson: Evolution happens. Strains of SIV related to ones that have crossed over to humans will continue to mutate, and can cross over to humans if given half a chance. Mutations happen, and will continue to happen. Some of the changes are bound to be more of a nuisance than others.
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