title: The spread of HIV in Africa.
abstract: A significant effort has been put into identifying the origin of HIV, tracking its spread, and mapping its distribution. This effort is of particular importance in Africa, where the AIDS epidemic is genetically most diverse, where prevalence reaches its highest levels, and where HIV had its origins in cross-species transmission from non-human primates to man. In this article, we summarize the molecular epidemiology of HIV in Africa, from both a historical and modern perspective. There are marked differences in the local diversity and in the rate of epidemic expansion in different regions of Africa. Understanding the distribution of genetic forms of HIV can be used to tailor vaccine strategies to specific regions and nations. Finally, we review the relationship of HIV lineages to related simian retroviruses and the evolutionary history and the origins of the HIV epidemic.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Biology (T10), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mokili
authors.forename: Bette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Korber
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011323:Primates; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology