"African men and women became laborers, carrying goods back and forth from the jungles to pay colonial taxes.," said Timberg. "Others were forced to work as porters. Local communities then, as today, killed chimps to sell as “bush meat.”
Scientists say it’s likely the virus made the leap to humans when a hunter cut himself while handling an infected animal. New transportation routes meant the hunter and the virus were no longer confined to a remote and sparsely populated area, where both were likely to eventually die.
A post card photo of Leopoldville in the 1890's. (Daniel Halperin)
A post card photo of Leopoldville in the 1890's. (Daniel Halperin)
"There is an old porter path that’s now a highway...a dirt road today," explained Timberg, "that came within about a mile of where the scientists collected the chimp waste that’s had the virus that’s virtually identical to the version of HIV that’s killed almost everybody who’s died of AIDS."
Other elements were added to the “tinderbox” that would make a once-localized illness combust.
Changing customs made it easier to spread the virus. The colonial powers discouraged polygamy, which medical anthropologists say tended to create what they call a “closed circuit” that tended to limit sex to married partners. By contrast, younger generations under the influence of Christianity may have married a single partner, but also had ongoing relationships with others.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25