Younger men also were less likely to participate in initiation rituals including circumcision, a widespread tradition in much of Africa that scientists have found largely protects men from HIV. The practice removes the foreskin of the penis, a vulnerable point of entry for the virus.
A growing urban population led to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, in densely populated Leopoldville, now Kinshasa.
"The historical record is clear," said Timberg. "You have an explosion of STDs, things that were not a major problem before the Europeans arrived. Suddenly they are at epidemic levels."
"The Belgian colonialists are actually complaining to each other, asking why are birth rates plummeting, how [they can] make a colonial economic machine without labor for from high birth rates. They thought it had to do with polygamy. But it had to do with STDs – the women were sick. What we now know is that HIV was one of the STDs moving about in that part of the world at a low level but in a persistent way for decades."
Timberg said with modern rail, ship and airlines, it was only a matter of time before the virus became widespread. Different subtypes moved toward East Africa and to Southern Africa. One made the leap across the Atlantic Ocean.
The leap to New World
Today, he said, scientists believe the introduction of the virus to the Americas probably happened in the 1960s and 1970s, through Haiti.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25