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From: rbg@cbosgd.UUCP (Richard Goldschmidt)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: re: A Lay question about AIDS?
Message-ID: <718@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Jan-85 08:04:04 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.718
Posted: Thu Jan 17 08:04:04 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 18-Jan-85 03:01:17 EST
References: <182@ttidcc.UUCP>
Organization: Silver Lining, Columbus Bell Labs
Lines: 26

Never fear, your paranoid interpretation is just a delusion :-)

>It is rumored that AIDS may be  part  of  a  biological-warfare  experiment
>being performed by our own military.  The rumor contends they are testing a
>virus that attacks  only  people  with  certain  specific  body  chemistry.
>Ultimate  goal: a bug that kills only Russians (for example).  Legionaire's
>Disease is said to have been a prototype.
>
>The Polymath (Jerry Hollombe) {vortex,philabs}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe

Legionaire's disease has been around for at least 50 or 60 years, since they
have found anti-bodies against it in human serum collected long ago.  It is
probably much older than that, and just wasn't recognized as a separate form
of pneumonia even though it primarily affects immune-compromised people.

A recent Science article suggested two possible origins for AIDS.  The one I
like best is that it is a mutant form of a chicken virus.  As part of some
voodoo ceremonies Haitian men bit the heads off live chickens, and came in 
contact with the chicken virus.  It spread through the male prostitutes who
participated in the cult, and when these prostitutes were exported to the U.S.
they spread the disease.  The other origin suggested was from Africa several
hundred years earlier.  So it seems rather unlikely that this provides an
instance of biological warfare.

Rich Goldschmidt     {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax,allegra} !cbosgd!rbg
		     ARPA:  cbosgd!rbg@ucbvax