This is a timeline of AIDS, including some discussion of early AIDS cases (especially those before 1980). A timeline is a graphical representation of a Chronological sequence of events also referred to as a Chronology.

Pre-1980s

1930s

• Researchers believe that sometime in the 1930s a form of simian immunodeficiency virus jumped to humans in central Africa. Simian immunodeficiency virus ( SIV) is a Retrovirus that is found in numerous strains in Primates; the specific strains infecting Humans The mutated virus becomes HIV-1. Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ^[1]

1958

• A 25-year-old printer from England named David Carr, who had served in the Royal Navy between 1955 and 1957, contracts a series of mysterious ailments including Pneumocystis carinii. Pneumocystis pneumonia ( PCP) is a form of Pneumonia caused by the yeast-like Fungus, Pneumocystis jirovecii (Jirovecii is pronounced He dies early the next year (1959). In 1990, tests by a hospital in Manchester reveal HIV in Carr's tissue samples, and he is briefly recognized as the first known AIDS death. Subsequently, more sophisticated testing at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at New York University Medical School reveals the HIV to have been a laboratory contaminant. The source reference for this item has been removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in unincorporated ^[2]

1959

X-ray showing infection with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

• The first known case of HIV in a human occurs in a person who died in the Congo, seemingly later confirmed as having HIV infection from his preserved blood samples . Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome The Belgian Congo ( Dutch: Belgisch Kongo French: Congo Belge German: Belgisch Kongo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic ^[3] However, according to the authors of the 1959 discovery, they never found, nor alleged to have found, HIV, or anything like a full virus. According to these authors, even "attempts to amplify HIV-1 fragments of >300 base pairs (bp) were unsuccessful, . . . However, after numerous attempts, four shorter sequences were obtained" that only represented small portions of two of the six genes of the complete AIDS virus. ^[3]
• In New York City, a 49-year-old American shipping clerk dies of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a disease closely associated with AIDS. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Pneumocystis pneumonia ( PCP) is a form of Pneumonia caused by the yeast-like Fungus, Pneumocystis jirovecii (Jirovecii is pronounced Dr. Gordon Hennigar, who performed the postmortem examination of the man's body, has been quoted in numerous publications saying that he believes the man probably had AIDS. ^[4]

1960s

• HIV-2, a viral variant found in West Africa, is thought to have transferred to people from sooty mangabey monkeys in Guinea-Bissau during this period. The Sooty Mangabey ( Cercocebus atys) is an Old World monkey found in forests from Senegal east to Ghana. The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (ˈgɪni bɨˈsaʊ República da Guiné-Bissau ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɐ giˈnɛ biˈsau is a country in Western Africa, and one of the smallest ^[1]

1966

• Genetic studies of the virus indicate that, in or about 1966, HIV first left Africa, infecting a single person in US. At this time, many Americans were working in Congo, providing the opportunity for infection. ^[5]

1968

• A 2003 analysis of HIV types found in the United States, compared to known mutation rates, suggests that the virus may have first arrived in the United States in this year. ^[1] The disease spread from the 1966 American strand, but remained unrecognized for another 12 years. ^[5]

1969

• A St. Louis teenager, identified only as Robert R., dies of an illness that baffles his doctors. Robert R (early 1954 – May 15 or 16 1969 was an African-American Missouri teenager who was the victim of the first confirmed case of HIV/AIDS Eighteen years later, molecular biologists at Tulane University in New Orleans test samples of his remains and find the virus that causes AIDS. ^[6]

1975

• The first reports of wasting and other symptoms, later determined to be AIDS, are reported in residents of Africa. ^[7]

1976

• Norwegian sailor Arvid Noe dies; it is later determined that he contracted HIV/AIDS in Africa during the early 1960s. Arvid Noe (1947&ndash1976 was a Norwegian Sailor who is notable for being one of the first non-Africans known to have died from AIDS.

1977

• Danish physician Grethe Rask dies of AIDS contracted in Africa. Margrethe P Rask (1930 – December 12, 1977) better known as Grethe Rask, was a Danish Physician and Surgeon who
• A San Francisco prostitute gives birth to the first of three children who would later be diagnosed with AIDS, and whose blood, when tested after their deaths, would reveal HIV infection. The mother would herself die of AIDS in May 1987. She was clearly infected by 1977 and perhaps earlier. ^[8]

1978

• A Portuguese man known as Senhor Jose dies; he will later be confirmed as the first known infection of HIV-2. One of the obstacles to treatment of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is its high genetic variability He was believed to have been exposed to the disease in Guinea-Bissau in 1966.

1980s

1980

• April 24, San Francisco resident Ken Horne, the first AIDS case in the United States to be recognized at the time, is reported to Center for Disease Control with Kaposi's sarcoma(KS). Kaposi's sarcoma (KS is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 ( HHV8) also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV He was also suffering from Cryptococcus at the time. Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast-like Fungus that can live in both Plants and Animals This species also known by its ^[9]
• On October 31, French-Canadian flight attendant Gaëtan Dugas pays his first known visit to New York City bathhouses. Gaëtan Dugas ( February 20, 1953 &ndash March 30, 1984) was a French-Canadian who worked for Air Canada as a flight Gay bathhouses, also known as Gay Saunas or Steam baths (and sometimes called in Gay slang in some regions "the baths" or "the He would later be deemed "Patient Zero" for his apparent connection to many early cases of AIDS in the United States. ^[10]
• Rick Wellikoff, a Brooklyn schoolteacher, dies of AIDS in New York City on December 23. He is the 4th American to have died from the new disease.

1981

Kaposi's sarcoma on the skin of an AIDS patient.

• January 15, Nick Rock becomes the first known AIDS death in New York City. Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign ^[10]
• May 18, Dr. Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Lawrence Mass becomes the first journalist in the world to write about the epidemic, in the "New York Native," a gay newspaper. A gay tipster overheard his physician mention that some gay men were being treated in intensive-care units in New York City for a strange pneumonia. "Disease Rumors Largely Unfounded" was the headline on Mass's article. Mass repeated a New York City public-health official's claims that there was no wave of disease sweeping through the gay community. At this point, however, the CDC had been gathering information for about a month on the outbreak that Mass's source was dismissing.
• June 5, The CDC reports a cluster of Pneumocystis pneumonia in five gay male drug users in Los Angeles. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem Pneumocystis pneumonia ( PCP) is a form of Pneumonia caused by the yeast-like Fungus, Pneumocystis jirovecii (Jirovecii is pronounced In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West ^[11]
• July 4, CDC reports clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis pneumonia among gay men in California and New York City. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The City of New York ^[12]
• By the end of the year, 121 people are known to have died from the disease. ^[1]
• First known case in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ^[13]

1982

• June 18, CDC MMWR 1982 31(23);305-7

"Exposure to some substance (rather than an infectious agent) may eventually lead to immunodeficiency among a subset of the homosexual male population that shares a particular style of life. Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries "^[14] For example, Marmor et al. recently reported that exposure to amyl nitrite was associated with an increased risk of KS in New York City. ^[15] Exposure to inhalant sexual stimulants, central-nervous-system stimulants, and a variety of other "street" drugs was common among males belonging to the cluster of cases of KS and PCP in Los Angeles and Orange counties. "^[14]

• July 9, CDC reports a cluster of opportunistic infections (OOI) and Kaposi's sarcoma among Haitians recently entering the United States. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by Pathogens that usually do not cause disease in a healthy Immune system. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: ^[1]
• July 27, The term AIDS (for acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is proposed at a meeting in Washington of gay-community leaders, federal bureaucrats and the CDC. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D ^[16]
• September 24, Current Trends Update on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) - United States^[17]

CDC defines a case of AIDS as a disease, at least moderately predictive of a defect in cell-mediated immunity, occurring in a person with no known cause for diminished resistance to that disease. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. Such diseases include KS, PCP, and serious OOI. [. . . ] Diagnoses are considered to fit the case definition only if based on sufficiently reliable methods (generally histology or culture). Some patients who are considered AIDS cases on the basis of diseases only moderately predictive of cellular immunodeficiency may not actually be immunodeficient and may not be part of the current epidemic.

• December 10, a baby in California becomes ill in the first known case of AIDS from a blood transfusion. ^[10]
• First known case in Brazil. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld ^[18]

1983

• In January, Dr. Françoise Barre, at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, isolates a retrovirus that kills T-cells from the lymph system of a gay AIDS patient. The Pasteur Institute (Institut Pasteur is a French Non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of Biology, Micro-organisms Diseases In the following months, she would find it in additional gay and hemophiliac sufferers. This retrovirus would be called by several names, including LAV and HTLV-III before being named HIV in 1986. Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ^[19]
• CDC National AIDS Hotline established. The CDC National AIDS Hotline distributes many publications on HIV and AIDS, including guides for teaching HIV prevention and caring
• March, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues donor screening guidelines. AIDS high-risk groups should not donate blood/plasma products.
• Australia has first death from AIDS in Melbourne, the Hawke Labor government invests in a significant campaign that ultimately gives Australia one of the lowest infection rates in the world. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Robert James Lee (Bob Hawke, AC (born 9 December 1929 was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia and longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister
• AIDS is diagnosed in Mexico for the first time. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. HIV can be traced in the country back to 1981. ^[20]

1984

• April 23, U. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announces at a press conference that an American scientist, Dr. Margaret Mary Heckler (born June 21, 1931) is a Republican politician from Massachusetts who served in the United States House of Robert Gallo, has discovered the probable cause of AIDS: the retrovirus subsequently named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in 1986. Robert Charles Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is a US biomedical researcher A retrovirus is any Virus belonging to the viral family Retroviridae. She also declares that a vaccine will be available within two years.
• September 6, first performance at Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco of The AIDS Show which runs for two years and is the subject of a 1986 documentary film of the same name. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started Theatre Rhinoceros or Theatre Rhino was founded in the spring of 1977 by Lanny Baugniet (who became the theater’s General Manager and his partner Allan B The AIDS Show is a collaboratively written theater piece about AIDS and a documentary video about the making of the stage show
• December 17, Ryan White was diagnosed with AIDS by a doctor performing a partial lung removal. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Ryan Wayne White (December 6 1971 – April 8 1990 was an American teenager from Kokomo Indiana who became a national Poster child for HIV White became infected with HIV from a blood product, known as Factor VIII, as part of his treatment for hemophilia which was given to him on a regular basis. When the public school that he attended, Western Middle School in Russiaville, Indiana, learned of his disease there was enormous pressure from parents and faculty to bar him from school premises. Due to the widespread fear of AIDS and lack of medical knowledge, principal Ron Colby and the schoolboard assented. His family filed a lawsuit, seeking to overturn the ban.

1985

• March 2, FDA approves first AIDS antibody screening tests for use on all donated blood and plasma intended for transfusion. Events 986 - Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 - Assassination of Charles the Good
• October 2, Rock Hudson, the first American celebrity to publicly admit having AIDS, dies of the disease. Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Rock Hudson (November 17 1925 &ndash October 2 1985 was an American Film and Television Actor, recognised as a romantic leading man during
• October, a conference of public health officials including representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organisation meet in Bangui and define AIDS in Africa as "prolonged fevers for a month or more, weight loss of over 10% and prolonged diarrhoea". The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in unincorporated Bangui is the Capital of and the largest city in the Central African Republic.
• First officially reported cases in China. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ^[21]
• The Ryan White vs. School Board lasted for 8 months, ending with White allowed back at the middle school. However, threats of violence and of parents suing remained, and they moved from Kokomo toward the school he eventually transferred to Hamilton Heights School Corporation, in neighboring Cicero, Indiana, where Michael Jackson purchased a home for him and his family. Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29 1958 is an American musician entertainer and businessman White was received as a celebrity by faculty and students of Hamilton Heights who were more educated regarding HIV.

1986

This image revealed the presence of both HTLV-1, and HIV.

• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is adopted as name of the retrovirus that was first proposed as the cause of AIDS by Luc Montagnier of France, who named it LAV (lymphadenopathy associated virus) and Robert Gallo of the United States, who named it HTLV-III (human T-lymphotropic virus type III)
• January 14, ". Luc Montagnier (born August 18 1932 is a French virologist and joint recipient with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Harald zur Hausen of the Robert Charles Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is a US biomedical researcher Events 1129 - Formal approval of the Order of the Templar at the Council of Troyes. . . one million Americans have already been infected with the virus and that this number will jump to at least 2 million or 3 million within 5 to 10 years. . . " - NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, New York Times. Anthony S Fauci is an immunologist who has made substantial contributions to research in the areas of AIDS and other immunodeficiencies both as a scientist and as ^[22]
• Model Gia Marie Carangi dies of AIDS related illness on November 18th. Gia Marie Carangi ( January 29, 1960 – November 18, 1986) was an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s
• First officially known cases in the U.S.S.R.^[23] and India^[24]. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

1987

• AZT (zidovudine), the first antiretroviral drug, becomes available to treat HIV sufferers. Zidovudine ( INN) or azidothymidine ( AZT) (also called ZDV is a nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI a type of Antiretroviral ^[1]
• Charles Ludlam dies of PCP pneumonia due to AIDS on May 28, 1987. Charles Braun Ludlam ( April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor director and playwright Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal

1989

• The television movie "The Ryan White Story" aired. It starred Judith Light as Jeanne, Lukas Haas as Ryan and Nikki Cox as sister Andrea. Ryan White had a small cameo appearance as Chad, a young patient with AIDS.

1990s

1990

Ryan White

• Ryan White - Dies on April 8, 1990 at the age of 18 from pneumonia caused by AIDS complications. Ryan Wayne White (December 6 1971 – April 8 1990 was an American teenager from Kokomo Indiana who became a national Poster child for HIV Ryan Wayne White (December 6 1971 – April 8 1990 was an American teenager from Kokomo Indiana who became a national Poster child for HIV
• Congress enacted The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act or Ryan White Care Act, the United States' largest federally funded health related program (excluding Medicaid and Medicare). The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE Act ( Ryan White Care Act, Ryan White,) was an Act of the U

1991

• A little over 24 hours after issuing the statement confirming that he has been tested HIV positive and had AIDS, Freddie Mercury (Singer of the British band Queen) dies on November 24, 1991 at the age of 45. Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991 was a Zanzibar -born British Musician, best known as the lead The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
• NBA star Magic Johnson publicly announces that he is HIV-positive.

1992

• In the US, AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for 24 to 44 year old men^[1]
• The first combination drug therapies for HIV are introduced. Such "cocktails" are more effective than AZT alone and slow down the development of drug resistance. ^[1]
• American actor Anthony Perkins, known for his role as Norman Bates in the Psycho movies, dies from AIDS. Anthony Perkins ( April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe -winning American

1995

• Saquinavir, a new type of protease inhibitor drug, becomes available to treat HIV. Saquinavir is an Antiretroviral drug used in HIV therapy It falls in the protease inhibitor class Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) becomes possible. ^[1] Within two years, death rates due to AIDS will have plummeted in the developed world.

1996

Robert Gallo

• Robert Gallo's discovery that some natural compounds known as chemokines can block HIV and halt the progression of AIDS is hailed by Science magazine as one of that year's most important scientific breakthroughs. Chemokines are a family of small Cytokines, or Proteins secreted by cells Proteins are classified as chemokines according to shared structural characteristics

1997

• September 2, "The most recent estimate of the number of Americans infected (with HIV), 750,000, is only half the total that government officials used to cite over a decade ago, at a time when experts believed that as many as 1. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. 5 million people carried the virus. " article in the Washington Post
• Based on the Bangui definition the WHO's cumulative number of reported AIDS cases from 1980 through 1997 for all of Africa is 620,000. The 1985 World Health Organization AIDS surveillance case definition was developed in October 1985, at a conference of Public health officials including representatives ^[25] For comparison, the cumulative total of AIDS cases in the USA through 1997 is 641,087.

1998

• December 10, International Human Rights Day, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is launched to campaign for greater access to HIV treatment for all South Africans, by raising public awareness and understanding about issues surrounding the availability, affordability and use of HIV treatments. Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Human Rights Day' is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December. Treatment Action Campaign is a South African AIDS activist organization which was founded by the HIV-positive activist Zackie Achmat in 1998 TAC campaigns against the view that AIDS is a death sentence.

1999

• January 31, studies suggest that a retrovirus, SIVcpz (simian immunodeficiency virus) from the common chimpanzee Pan troglodytes, may have passed to human populations in west equatorial Africa during the twentieth century and developed into various types of HIV. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Chimpanzee (often shortened to chimp) is the common name for the two extant Species of Apes in the Genus Pan. ^[26][27]
• Edward Hooper releases a book called The River, which accuses doctors who tested a polio vaccine in 1950s Africa of unintentionally starting the AIDS epidemic. Edward Hooper (born 1951 is a British journalist best known for his book The River, which investigates the origins and early epidemiology of AIDS and makes a case The theory receives a great deal of publicity. ^[1]

2000s

2000

• WHO estimates between 15% and 20% of new HIV infections worldwide are the result of blood transfusions, where the donors were not screened or inadequately screened for HIV. Blood transfusion is the process of transferring Blood or blood-based products from one person into the Circulatory system of another

2001

• September 21, FDA licenses the first nucleic acid test (NAT) systems intended for screening of blood and plasma donors. Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights.

2004

• January 5, "Individual risk of acquiring HIV and experiencing rapid disease progression is not uniform within populations", says Anthony S. Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Fauci, M. D. , director of NIAID. ^{[28] [2]}

2005

• January 21, CDC recommends anti-retroviral post-exposure prophylaxis for people exposed to HIV from rapes, accidents or occasional unsafe sex or drug use. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. Post-exposure prophylaxis ( PEP) is any prophylactic treatment started immediately after exposure to a pathogen (such as a disease-causing Virus) in order This treatment should start no more than 72 hours after a person has been exposed to the virus, and the drugs should be used by patients for 28 days. This emergency drug treatment has been recommended since 1996 for health-care workers accidentally stuck with a needle, splashed in the eye with blood, or exposed in some other way on the job. ^[29]
• A highly resistant strain of HIV linked to rapid progression to AIDS is identified in New York City. ^[1]

2006

• November 9, SIV found in Gorillas^[30]

2007

• October 2, Stephen Fry presents the TV documentry Stephen Fry, HIV and Me on BBC Two. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Events 1187 - Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957 is an English Humorist, Writer, Wit, Actor, Novelist, filmmaker ^[31]

References

External links

• Important milestones in the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic
• Flash Global HIV/AIDS Timeline from the Kaiser Family Foundation