title: On the contribution of Angola to the initial spread of HIV-1.
abstract: Angola borders and has long-term links with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as high levels of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) genetic diversity, indicating a potential role in the initial spread of the HIV-1 pandemic. Herein, we analyze 564 C2V3 and 354 pol publicly available sequences from DRC, Republic of Congo (RC) and Angola to better understand the initial spread of the virus in this region. Phylogeographic analyses were performed with the BEAST software. While our results pinpoint the origin of the pandemic to Kinshasa (DRC) around 1906, the introduction of HIV-1 to Angola could have occurred early between the 1910s and 1940s. Furthermore, most of the HIV-1 migrations out of Kinshasa were directed not only to Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi (DRC), but also to Luanda and Brazzaville. Kinshasa census records corroborate these findings, indicating that the early exportation of the virus to Angola might be related to the high number of Angolans in Kinshasa at that time, originated mostly from the North of Angola. In summary, our results place Angola at the epicenter of the early HIV dissemination, together with DRC and RC.
authors: Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Lisboa, Portugal; Molecular Biology and Immunology Department, Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Basic Sciences Department, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors: Andrea-Clemencia
authors: AC
authors: Pineda-Peña
authors: Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Lisboa, Portugal; Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; CRIA-UC, Centre for Research in Anthropology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Varanda
authors: Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Lisboa, Portugal; KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors: João Dinis
authors: JD
authors: Sousa
authors: KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Kristof
authors: K
authors: Theys
authors: Instituto de Investigação do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Inês
authors: I
authors: Bártolo
authors: Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Leitner
authors: Instituto de Investigação do Medicamento (iMed.ULisboa), Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal; Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas Moniz, Monte de Caparica, Portugal.
authors: Nuno
authors: N
authors: Taveira
authors: Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Lisboa, Portugal; KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors: Anne-Mieke
authors: AM
authors: Vandamme
authors: Global Health and Tropical Medicine, GHTM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, IHMT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, UNL, Lisboa, Portugal; KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: ana.abecasis@ihmt.unl.pt.
authors: Ana B
authors: AB
authors: Abecasis
mesh_terms: D000810:Angola / Q000453:epidemiology; D003223:Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D063426:Human Migration / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D058974:Phylogeography
keywords: Angola; Group M; HIV-1; Origin; Phylogeography