Original subtitles

Narrator: WHAT IF EVERYTHING YOU KNEW

ABOUT ONE OF THE GREATEST KILLERS IN HUMAN HISTORY

WAS WRONG?

WHERE IT CAME FROM?

ITS AGE?

ITS FIRST VICTIMS?

IT'S THE ULTIMATE COLD CASE.

Man: WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW DID THIS THING COME TO BE?

Narrator: NOW, JOIN US ON A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION

TO UNCOVER A TRAIL OF FORGOTTEN CLUES

THAT IS REWRITING THE STORY OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME...

Man: HALLELUJAH!

Narrator: AGAINST CHAOS...

TO FIND THE FRAGILE EVIDENCE:

A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC NO ONE NOTICED,

A LOST HISTORY,

AND A DISCOVERY THAT COULD SAVE US

FROM THE NEXT DEADLY VIRUS.

Tom Brokaw: SCIENTISTS AT THE NATIONAL CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

IN ATLANTA TODAY RELEASED THE RESULTS OF A STUDY,

WHICH SHOWS THAT THE LIFESTYLE OF SOME MALE HOMOSEXUALS

HAS TRIGGERED AN EPIDEMIC OF A RARE FORM OF CANCER.

Man: HERE THE KILLER DISEASE

HAS TAKEN ITS GREATEST TOLL OF DEATH.

Narrator: IN THE BEGINNING,

THERE WERE A FEW BUT HORRIBLE DEATHS.

THE INVISIBLE KILLER APPEARS TO STRIKE GAY MEN ONLY,

WITH A ZERO CHANCE OF SURVIVAL.

Man: I KNOW MY LIFE WILL END VERY SOON.

Narrator: THERE IS CONFUSION AND PANIC,

AND NO MEDICAL EXPLANATION.

Man: IF IT IS CONTAGIOUS, WHICH WE DON'T KNOW,

THEN IT IS TRANSMITTED BY VERY, VERY CLOSE PERSONAL CONTACT.

Narrator: TO COMFORT AN INCREASINGLY WORRIED PUBLIC,

A LIFESTYLE IS MADE RESPONSIBLE AND THE AGONY GIVEN A NAME.

Man: THIS CONDITION IS CALLED A-I-D-S. AIDS.

Narrator: MILLIONS OF LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE,

WITH NO CLEAR CAUSE IDENTIFIED

AND NO TREATMENT.

DOCTORS AND PATIENTS ARE EQUALLY HELPLESS.

ONLY RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISTS SEEM TO HAVE ANSWERS.

Man: WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS YOU'RE BELIEVING THE DEVIL,

AND YOU'RE BELIEVING A LIE!

Narrator: VICTIMS ARE TURNED INTO PERPETRATORS.

FEAR, FUELED BY PREJUDICE, ENGULFS AMERICA.

THE STRANGE NEW PLAGUE WILL SOON DEVOUR MILLIONS OF LIVES.

BUT WHERE DID THIS UNKNOWN KILLER COME FROM?

IT IS A MYSTERY THAT'S TAKEN SCIENCE DECADES TO UNRAVEL.

THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE COULD BE THE KEY

TO FINDING A VACCINE THAT COULD END AIDS FOREVER.

WORKING AROUND THE GLOBE, A TEAM OF DEDICATED SCIENTISTS

IS NOW DETERMINED TO DISCOVER THE TRUTH ABOUT HIV,

WORKING LIKE DETECTIVES ON THE ULTIMATE COLD CASE.

Michael Worobey: IT'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PANDEMICS

IN HUMAN HISTORY,

AND I JUST BECAME REALLY INTERESTED

IN THIS SORT OF DEEP HISTORY THAT YOU CAN GET AT

WHEN YOU COMPARE THEIR GENE SEQUENCES.

IT'S LIKE BUILDING A FAMILY TREE OF HUMANS,

AND IT TAKES YOU BACK TO THE TIME

WHEN THE PANDEMIC FIRST EMERGED,

AND THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN A FASCINATING QUESTION:

WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW DID THIS THING COME TO BE

THAT ENTERED THE SCENE SEEMINGLY OUT OF NOWHERE IN THE 1980s?

Narrator: FOR SCIENTISTS LIKE MIKE WOROBEY,

THE FIRST CLUES TO THE VIRUS'S ORIGINS

WERE THERE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING,

IN THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE DISEASE,

BACK WHEN FEAR AND SPECULATION CLOUDED THE AIR.

WHILE THE FIRST CASES OF AIDS GOT NOTICED IN THE U.S.,

3,000 MILES ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, IN BELGIUM,

DR. PETER PIOT SAW A STRIKINGLY SIMILAR DISEASE

QUIETLY APPEAR IN HIS COUNTRY.

Peter Piot: WE STARTED SEEING

AT OUR HOSPITAL FOR TROPICAL DISEASES IN ANTWERP

PEOPLE COMING FROM CENTRAL AFRICA--

AFRICANS BUT ALSO EUROPEANS LIVING THERE.

AND THEY ALL DIED IN OUR HOSPITAL

WITH A VERY COMPLEX SET

OF WHAT WE CALL NOW OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS.

Narrator: ALL HIS PATIENTS,

WITH THE SAME SYMPTOMS AS AIDS,

WEREN'T CONNECTED TO AMERICA...

BUT TO CENTRAL AFRICA,

TO THE FORMER BELGIAN COLONY,

THE CONGO.

TO PETER IT WAS A SMOKING GUN.

WHILE AIDS WAS GRABBING THE HEADLINES IN AMERICA,

DID THE DISEASE IN FACT BEGIN IN THE HEART OF AFRICA?

Piot: IF WE SEE A HUNDRED PATIENTS HERE IN BELGIUM,

THERE MUST BE THOUSANDS OF THEM IN CENTRAL AFRICA,

IN THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN,

BECAUSE WHO CAN AFFORD TO COME TO EUROPE FOR MEDICAL CARE?

Narrator: IN 1983,

PETER HEADED OUT TO THE CONGO TO SEE IF HE WAS RIGHT.

KINSHASA,

THE CAPITAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.

Piot: WHEN I ENTERED MAMA YEMO HOSPITAL

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN '83,

I COULD SEE THAT THE WARDS WERE FULL WITH AIDS PATIENTS.

Narrator: AND AT LEAST HALF OF THEM WERE WOMEN.

PETER RECOGNIZED IMMEDIATELY THAT AIDS WAS NOT A GAY DISEASE.

HERE IT WAS SPREADING BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE.

Piot: AND THEN I TOOK A DEEP BREATH,

AND I SAID THAT THIS WAS AN EPIDEMIC,

A HETEROSEXUAL EPIDEMIC.

THIS IS A REAL, REAL PROBLEM.

WE ARE IN DEEP TROUBLE.

Narrator: TO PETER, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT HERE IN AFRICA,

AIDS WAS NOT A NEW DISEASE

BUT HAD BEEN SPREADING UNNOTICED FOR A LONG TIME--

A TERRIFYING TRUTH THE WORLD WAS NOT READY TO HEAR.

Piot: WE WROTE A PAPER, AND THAT WAS REJECTED,

AND THE COMMENT OF THE REFEREE WAS,

"IT'S A WELL-KNOWN FACT THAT AIDS CANNOT BE TRANSMITTED

FROM WOMEN TO MEN," QUOTE, UNQUOTE,

WHICH IS SHOCKING RETROSPECTIVELY.

BUT EVEN IN THESE DAYS,

THE INFORMATION WAS ALREADY CLEAR.

Narrator: EVEN AFTER THE DISCOVERY

THAT AIDS WAS CAUSED BY A VIRUS

THAT COULD BE TRANSMITTED BETWEEN ANYONE,

SPECULATION ABOUT WHERE IT CAME FROM

CONTINUED TO GROW.

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS BELIEVED THE CIA CREATED IT--

A BIOWEAPON DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE MINORITY GROUPS.

THE SEARCH FOR THE KILLER BECAME A WITCH HUNT.

WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE?

Woman: IT WAS THE WHODUNIT OF THE CENTURY.

Harry Reasoner: PATIENT ZERO

IS A MEDICAL AND POLITICAL DETECTIVE STORY.

Narrator: A RUMOR EMERGED THAT IN THE LATE 1970s

A CANADIAN FLIGHT ATTENDANT HAD SPREAD IT TO GAY MEN

IN THE PROMISCUOUS BATHHOUSE SCENE

ON THE WEST COAST OF THE U.S.

THE RUMOR WAS PART OF A RIGHT-WING SMEAR CAMPAIGN.

ONE CONSPIRACY THEORY

EVEN TOOK ROOT AMONG SOME SCIENTISTS:

THAT THE VIRUS WAS INTRODUCED INTO HUMANS VIA A VACCINE.

IN THE LATE 1950s,

SCIENTISTS DEVELOPED AN ORAL POLIO VACCINE

THAT WAS TESTED IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

IT WAS CLAIMED THAT IN THE PROCESS,

THEY SOMEHOW USED CHIMPANZEE CELLS

UNKNOWINGLY INFECTED WITH A PRECURSOR TO THE AIDS VIRUS,

AND THAT WHEN THE VACCINE

WAS LATER GIVEN TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE,

IT ACCIDENTALLY INTRODUCED HIV.

ALTHOUGH LATER STUDIES FOUND NO TRACE OF HIV

AND NO TRACE OF CHIMP CELLS IN THE VACCINE,

THE CONSPIRACY THEORY PERSISTS TO THIS DAY.

Dirk Teuwen: CONSPIRACY THEORIES NEVER DIE ALONE.

AND SCIENTIFIC PROOF WAS THE ONLY WAY

TO, ONCE AND FOR ALL, GET THIS OVER WITH.

Narrator: DIRK TEUWEN IS A MEDICAL RESEARCHER

WHO HAS TEAMED WITH MIKE WOROBEY

BECAUSE THEY SHARE A LONGSTANDING INTEREST

IN UNCOVERING THE REAL HISTORY OF HIV.

THEY WANTED TO DISPROVE ALL THE RUMORS.

THE PLAN: RETURN TO THE CONGO AND FOLLOW UP ON THE LEADS.

Dirk: THAT WAS A LUDICROUS IDEA.

DIRK, YOU MUST BE COMPLETELY CRAZY.

CONGO HAS HAD SO MANY REVOLUTIONS,

AND NOTHING WILL HAVE BEEN PRESERVED FROM THE PAST.

BUT, OKAY, I MEAN, I'M STUBBORN,

AND I PERSISTED, SO THERE WE GO.

Narrator: BUT FINDING FORGOTTEN EVIDENCE IN THE CONGO

IS NOT EASY.

THE COUNTRY WENT THROUGH DECADES OF DECLINE.

THINGS GOT LOST.

BUT DIRK KEPT AT IT.

A FEW YEARS BACK, HE AND MIKE DISCOVERED SOMETHING CURIOUS:

A BIOPSY SAMPLE THAT CONTAINED TRACES OF THE VIRUS.

IT CAME FROM A PATIENT WHO DIED IN THE 1960s.

TO PROVE THAT THIS WAS NOT AN ISOLATED CASE,

HE NEEDS TO FIND MORE EVIDENCE.

Narrator: DIRK HAS BROUGHT A COMMODITY THAT IS SCARCE HERE,

BUT CENTRAL TO HIS RESEARCH:

PARAFFIN.

THIS IS THE PATHOLOGY LAB

WHERE THE FIRST TANTALIZING CLUE WAS FOUND.

FOR DECADES,

CLINICIANS HERE HAVE BEEN PREPARING TISSUE SAMPLES

FROM THE SICK AND THE DEAD:

SLICES OF SPLEEN, LIVER, AND LYMPH NODES.

THE TISSUE SAMPLES ARE EMBEDDED IN BLOCKS OF PARAFFIN

TO SHIELD THEM FROM DECAY.

THE TUMOR IN THIS BREAST TISSUE

WILL BE ARCHIVED AND PRESERVED FOR FUTURE STUDY.

SINCE THE 1940s, THIS HAS BEEN STANDARD MEDICAL PROCEDURE.

EVEN HERE, WHERE FREEZERS ARE A LUXURY,

IT MEANS THAT IN THEORY,

DECADES-OLD TISSUES COULD REMAIN PRESERVED.

EACH OF THESE BLOCKS IS LIKE A MEDICAL FOSSIL.

THEY PRESERVE NOT JUST HUMAN TISSUE,

BUT POTENTIALLY ALSO ANY VIRUS INFECTING IT.

DIRK AND MIKE'S TEAM

HOPE TO FIND ARCHIVES OF THESE TISSUE SAMPLES

AND USE THEM LIKE A TIME MACHINE

TO TRAVEL BACK TO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE EPIDEMIC,

BEFORE ANYONE KNEW THAT AIDS AND HIV EVEN EXISTED.

BUT THEIR JOURNEY WON'T BE EASY.

THIS IS CONGO'S ONLY HIGH-SECURITY LAB.

HIV, EBOLA, AND MONKEY POX HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED HERE,

ALL UNDER THE OVERSIGHT

OF DR. JEAN-JACQUES MUYEMBE-TAMFUM,

THE COUNTRY'S MOST DISTINGUISHED MEDICAL RESEARCHER.

DIRK HAS COME TO ASK JEAN-JACQUES FOR HELP

IN GAINING ACCESS TO A LOCAL HOSPITAL

WHERE HE HOPES TO FIND CLUES

THAT MAY HELP THEM DETERMINE WHEN AND HOW AIDS FIRST BEGAN.

Narrator: BUT GETTING HIS HANDS ON THE SAMPLES WON'T BE EASY.

IT TAKES DIRK A LOT OF NEGOTIATING

TO CONVINCE A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS

TO ALLOW HIM TO ENTER THE HOSPITAL'S BASEMENT.

Narrator: LOCATING OLD TISSUE SAMPLES IN THIS CHAOS

WILL BE DIFFICULT.

Narrator: AMONG ALL THE JUNK, THEY FIND A METAL CONTAINER.

THESE ARE SAMPLES IN THEIR ORIGINAL CARDBOARD BOXES.

AND THEN, THE MOTHER LODE:

PAY DIRT.

THIS CORNER OF THE BASEMENT IS STUFFED WITH ARCHIVAL DRAWERS.

Narrator: SORTING OUT HOW OLD THESE SAMPLES ARE

ISN'T EASY.

DELPHINE MAVINGA PHANZU,

THE TECHNICIAN FROM THE PATHOLOGY LAB,

MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP.

DIRK HOPES THESE SAMPLES

WILL DATE TO THE 1960s OR EVEN EARLIER,

TO WHEN HE BELIEVES THE HOSPITAL HERE

MIGHT HAVE SEEN ITS FIRST UNIDENTIFIED CASES OF AIDS.

THE DOCTORS PERHAPS PERFORMED AN AUTOPSY

AND PRESERVED THE TISSUE.

COULD AN ANCIENT FORM OF HIV BE LURKING IN THESE BLOCKS OF WAX?

Dirk: WE SEE BLOCKS FROM 1974,

AND THEY ARE IN A REMARKABLE GOOD CONDITION.

IF YOU OPEN THIS BOX AND YOU SEE THIS,

AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT IT, THIS IS BRILLIANT.

THIS IS SIMPLY BRILLIANT.

Narrator: HE'LL HAVE TO KEEP DIGGING.

ONLY OLDER SAMPLES WILL SHOW WHETHER AN EPIDEMIC EXISTED

LONG BEFORE AIDS BEGAN KILLING PEOPLE IN NORTH AMERICA.

IN 1985, AMERICA GETS A WAKE-UP CALL.

MOVIE STAR ROCK HUDSON DIES OF AIDS.

BUT DESPITE THE SHOCKING HEADLINE,

THE DISEASE IS IGNORED.

UNCHECKED, THE VIRUS IS SPREADING

INTO HETEROSEXUALS IN INNER-CITY AREAS.

WITHOUT INTERVENTION,

IT INVADES OTHER POPULATIONS THE MAINSTREAM IGNORES:

SEX WORKERS AND INTRAVENOUS DRUG USERS.

AND SOON THE VIRUS INFILTRATES THE HEARTLAND OF AMERICA.

QUIETLY IT SLIPS INTO THE NATION'S BLOOD SUPPLY.

IN 1990, IT TAKES THE LIFE OF AN ADOLESCENT TEENAGER IN OHIO,

A HEMOPHILIAC INFECTED

BY A TAINTED BLOOD TRANSFUSION.

Reporter: THE GOVERNMENT PREDICTS

THAT WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

165,000 AMERICANS-- MEN AND WOMEN--

WILL DIE FROM THIS MYSTERIOUS DISEASE.

C. Everett Koop: WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DEATH HERE.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DEATH.

Narrator: POLITICIANS ARE THE LAST

TO AWAKE TO THE REALITY.

President Bush: THIS IS A TRAGIC DISEASE.

I'D LIKE TO FIND WAYS TO BE HELPFUL AS PRESIDENT.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL SOON REQUIRE TESTING

FOR PRISONERS, IMMIGRANTS,

AND ALIENS SEEKING PERMANENT RESIDENCE.

[CROWD BOOS]

Narrator: CLOSING BORDERS IS A FUTILE GESTURE.

THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC IS ALREADY OUT OF CONTROL.

HIV WILL EVENTUALLY CLAIM 30 MILLION LIVES.

BUT WHAT'S UNKNOWN IS WHAT THE VIRUS WAS DOING

BEFORE THE FIRST CASE OF AIDS SURFACED IN 1981.

COULD THERE HAVE BEEN AN EARLIER HIDDEN EPIDEMIC NO ONE NOTICED?

THAT'S WHY DIRK HAS RETURNED TO THE LAB

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KINSHASA.

HE AND DELPHINE HAVE LOCATED OLD MEDICAL RECORDS.

THEY GIVE VERY DETAILED INFORMATION

ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE PATIENT.

IN THEORY, EACH FILE HAS A CORRESPONDING TISSUE SAMPLE.

DIRK HOPES THAT THESE ARCHIVES MIGHT CONTAIN CLUES

ABOUT MORE EARLY PATIENTS OF HIV.

Narrator: THE DOCUMENTS DETAIL THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF PATIENTS

DATING BACK TO 1954.

AS A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL,

DIRK MIGHT BE ABLE TO SPOT CASES THAT SUGGEST AIDS-LIKE SYMPTOMS.

BUT TO CONFIRM ANY EARLY HIV PATIENTS,

THEY WILL HAVE TO FIND TISSUE SAMPLES

AND TEST THEM FOR THE VIRUS.

Narrator: THE SAMPLES HAVE BEEN MOVED TO A DIFFERENT LOCATION.

Narrator: EVERYTHING HAS TO BE CLEANED OUT AND CLASSIFIED.

IT IS A TREASURE TROVE OF THOUSANDS OF OLD SAMPLES.

BUT FIGURING OUT HOW OLD THEY ARE

AND IF THE TISSUE SAMPLES FROM THE 1950s

ARE AMONG THE JUMBLED CHAOS

WILL TAKE WORK.

LOTS OF WORK.

WHILE DELPHINE SORTS OUT THE MESS,

DIRK HITS THE ROAD.

TOGETHER WITH HIS FRIEND JEAN-JACQUES

HE IS HEADING TO A TOWN 100 MILES OUTSIDE KINSHASA

THAT MANY DECADES AGO

WAS THE CENTER OF A GIGANTIC RAILWAY PROJECT.

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WORKED UNDER VERY HARSH CONDITIONS,

AND COUNTLESS WERE TREATED IN THE LOCAL HOSPITAL.

SO, THE TWO HOPE TO FIND OLD TISSUE SAMPLES

IN THIS PLACE CALLED MBANZA-NGUNGU,

WHICH COULD POINT TO HIV'S EARLY VICTIMS.

TODAY, RUINS AND WRECKS

ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT OF THE RAILWAY.

[HORN BLOWS]

DIRK'S BEEN TOLD THAT THERE'S AN EYEWITNESS HERE

WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP HIM FIND THE KILLER'S TRACKS.

A 92-YEAR-OLD FORMER LAB TECHNICIAN

AT A NEARBY HOSPITAL.

Narrator: THE TISSUE SAMPLES WERE THERE IN 1996

WHEN THE MAN RETIRED,

BUT WHERE THEY ARE TODAY IS ANYONE'S GUESS.

THE OLD MAN REMEMBERS THAT THERE IS AN ARCHIVE

WITH PATIENT RECORDS GOING BACK DECADES.

MAYBE THEY WILL POINT TO THE SAMPLES.

[DIRK GASPS]

Dirk: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!

LOOK AT THIS!

'85...

'84. SO, '84...

Narrator: COULD THIS TREASURE TROVE OF FILES

LEAD DIRK TO MORE ANCIENT SAMPLES OF HIV

AND TO ANSWERS ABOUT THE PREHISTORY OF THE PANDEMIC?

AFTER HAVING SEARCHED THE WHOLE ARCHIVE,

THEY FIND AN OLD AND DUSTY SUITCASE.

[MEN SPEAKING FRENCH]

[LAUGHING]

Narrator: THE OLD TISSUE SAMPLES THAT WERE STILL THERE IN 1996

ARE GONE.

IT IS A REMINDER FOR DIRK AND HIS FRIEND JEAN-JACQUES

THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES.

A LACK OF FUNDS HAS FORCED THE DOCTORS TO IMPROVISE.

PROBABLY, THE BLOCKS HAVE BEEN MELTED DOWN

BECAUSE THE PARAFFIN WAS NEEDED TO MANUFACTURE NEW BLOCKS.

ALL HIS HOPES NOW REST WITH THE LAB

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KINSHASA.

[PEOPLE SINGING]

Narrator: DELPHINE HAS FINISHED CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET.

AT FIRST SIGHT, THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A MEDICAL GOLD MINE.

Dirk: OH!

[SPEAKING FRENCH]

Narrator: BUT THE SEARCH HAS PAID OFF.

DELPHINE HAS FOUND THOUSANDS OF SAMPLES FROM THE 1960s.

DIRK'S HOPING SOME MAY EVEN BE FROM THE MID-1950s.

BUT DELPHINE IS CAUTIOUS.

SHE DOUBLE-CHECKS WITH SLIDES

THAT CONTAIN A COPY OF EACH TISSUE SAMPLE.

Narrator: THE SAMPLES FROM THE 1950s

THAT DIRK HAD HOPED TO FIND AREN'T AMONG THEM.

THEY, TOO, MAY HAVE BEEN RECYCLED OR DESTROYED.

Dirk: IN OUR JOURNEY TO 1956 AND EARLIER

I THINK WE MAY HERE BE AT A DEAD END.

Narrator: BUT DESPITE THE DISAPPOINTMENT,

THEY HAVE FOUND THOUSANDS OF TISSUE SAMPLES FROM THE 1960s.

Dirk: AND THEY MAY BE EQUALLY IMPORTANT

BECAUSE THE MORE INFORMATION WE HAVE FROM THIS PERIOD,

THE BETTER WE CAN OBVIOUSLY POSITION

EARLY HIV POSITIVE SAMPLES.

Narrator: ARE ANCIENT PARTICLES OF THE VIRUS LURKING INSIDE?

PIECE BY PIECE,

BATCHES OF THESE PRECIOUS BLOCKS

ARE SHIPPED OUT TO ARIZONA FOR ANALYSIS.

IF THE LAB CAN I.D. THE VIRUS IN THE 70-YEAR-OLD HUMAN TISSUE,

IT WILL REWRITE THE LOST HISTORY OF AIDS.

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA,

MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST MIKE WOROBEY

IS WRESTLING WITH THE HALF-CENTURY-OLD TISSUE SAMPLES

FROM AFRICA.

Worobey: THE TRICK NOW

IS TO FIND THE TINY LITTLE BIT OF HIV GENETIC MATERIAL

THAT MIGHT BE IN THERE,

AND IT'S KIND OF LIKE LOOKING FOR A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK,

BUT THE NEEDLES ARE BROKEN

BECAUSE OF THE CHEMICALS THAT WE USE,

SO IT'S LIKE LOOKING FOR A TINY FRAGMENT OF A BROKEN NEEDLE

IN A FIELD OF HAYSTACKS.

Narrator: MIKE IS LOOKING FOR GENETIC MATERIAL FROM THE VIRUS

AND MUST MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS NO CONTAMINATION.

Worobey: OK, WHAT HAVE WE GOT?

Man: WELL, WE GOT A BAND HERE.

LOOKS DECENT.

HERE, HERE.

AND THOSE TWO ALL LOOK PROMISING.

Worobey: SO THOSE ARE ALL LOOKING--

Narrator: THERE ARE SIGNALS

THAT SOME OF THE SAMPLES FROM THE 1960s

ARE INDEED HIV-POSITIVE.

Man: WE'LL CLONE AND SEQUENCE IT.

Worobey: BEAUTIFUL.

Narrator: THIS COULD MEAN THAT AIDS

WAS WREAKING HAVOC IN AFRICA

DECADES BEFORE ANYONE EVER NOTICED.

Worobey: THESE SORTS OF OLD SEQUENCES, IF WE GET THEM,

ALLOW US TO STEP BACK IN TIME SEVERAL DECADES

AND KIND OF HAVE A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT HIV LOOKED LIKE

IN 1966 OR 1960.

IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN A STILL PHOTOGRAPH AND FILM.

A STILL PHOTOGRAPH CAN BE GREAT,

BUT IF YOU CAN HAVE A SERIES OF THESE THINGS OVER TIME,

YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER

AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU GET A SENSE OF THE MOTION,

THE SPEED AT WHICH THIS THING CHANGES OVER TIME,

AND THAT ALLOWS YOU TO GO BACK EVEN DEEPER

TO THE EARLIEST TIME POINTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE VIRUS.

Narrator: THESE OLD SEQUENCES

MAY EVEN HOLD VALUABLE INTELLIGENCE

ABOUT THE VIRUS'S WEAKNESSES

SCIENTISTS MIGHT ONE DAY EXPLOIT IN THEIR QUEST FOR A VACCINE.

DEFEATING THE VIRUS HAS PROVEN IMPOSSIBLY HARD.

HIV MUTATES FASTER

THAN SCIENTISTS CAN INVENT WEAPONS AGAINST IT.

BUT WHILE WE STILL HAVE NO CURE AND NO VACCINE,

WE DID DISCOVER A WAY TO PROLONG LIFE WITH HIV,

WITH SO CALLED ANTI-RETROVIRAL DRUGS.

Magic Johnson: BECAUSE OF THE HIV VIRUS THAT I HAVE

I WILL HAVE TO RETIRE FROM THE LAKERS.

Narrator: IN 1992,

MAGIC JOHNSON BECAME THE NEW FACE

FOR AMERICANS LIVING WITH AIDS.

Johnson: SOMETIMES WE THINK,

WELL, ONLY GAY PEOPLE CAN GET IT...ONLY...

IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME.

AND HERE I AM SAYING THAT IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY.

EVEN ME, MAGIC JOHNSON, IT CAN HAPPEN TO.

Narrator: NEARLY A DECADE AFTER THE VIRUS WAS DISCOVERED,

AIDS WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED BY MAINSTREAM AMERICA.

Woman: AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...

TOM HANKS IN "PHILADELPHIA."

Tom Hanks: I KNOW THAT MY WORK IN THIS CASE

IS MAGNIFIED BY THE FACT

THAT THE STREETS OF HEAVEN ARE TOO CROWDED WITH ANGELS.

THEY NUMBER A THOUSAND

FOR EACH ONE OF THE RED RIBBONS THAT WE WEAR HERE TONIGHT.

Narrator: BUT DESPITE THE WORLD'S ACCEPTANCE

AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREATMENT DRUGS,

THE VIRUS CONTINUES TO CLAIM MILLIONS OF LIVES EACH YEAR.

30 YEARS AFTER HIV WAS FIRST DISCOVERED,

WE MAY BE ON THE CUSP OF A NEW DISCOVERY...

IF THE TEAM CAN PROVE THAT THERE WAS AN EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA

AS EARLY AS THE 1960s.

MIKE HAS BEEN BUSY WORKING THROUGH A LOT OF THE SAMPLES

HE AND DIRK HAVE RECEIVED FROM KINSHASA.

AND EVEN WITH THOUSANDS STILL TO GO,

THE RESULTS HE GOT EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS.

Mike: BON APPETIT. Dirk: BON APPETIT.

Worobey: I THINK WE'RE GOING TO GET A LOT OF JOY

OUT OF THESE 1960s SAMPLES,

SO LET ME SHOW YOU.

IT'S DEFINITELY A GENUINE POSITIVE.

Narrator: THE TEAM HAS FOUND HIV

IN THREE MORE SAMPLES FROM THE 1960s.

AND FOR THE FIRST TIME,

MIKE HAS BEEN ABLE TO STITCH TOGETHER

A NEAR-COMPLETE GENOME OF AN ANCIENT VIRUS,

NOT JUST TINY FRAGMENTS OF IT.

Worobey: ANOTHER INDICATION THAT BY THE 1960s

THIS WAS ALREADY

A VERY WELL-ESTABLISHED OUTBREAK IN KINSHASA.

AND IT'S GETTING TO THE POINT NOW WHERE, YOU KNOW,

I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE, WHEN WE STARTED DOING THIS,

THOUGHT THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME

WAS WE WOULD GET ZERO SAMPLES THAT WERE POSITIVE.

BUT WE NOW HAVE AT LEAST THREE FROM THIS TIME.

IT'S GIVING US A SNAPSHOT OF KINSHASA IN THE 1950s AND '60s,

WHERE IT'S ALREADY A FAIRLY MATURE EPIDEMIC.

Narrator: 1960 SHOULD HAVE BEEN A YEAR OF CELEBRATIONS

IN THE CONGO.

Announcer: ON JUNE 30, 1960,

KING BAUDOUIN OF BELGIUM JOURNEYED TO LEOPOLDVILLE

TO PROCLAIM THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE BELGIAN CONGO.

Narrator: WHILE THE PEOPLE IN THE CONGO CELEBRATED,

THE VIRUS SPREAD.

NO ONE KNOWS THE EXACT NUMBERS,

BUT THERE MUST ALREADY HAVE BEEN MANY PEOPLE INFECTED WITH HIV

IN KINSHASA.

HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS.

THEN, CONGO DESCENDED INTO CHAOS.

Announcer: THEIR JOY WAS SHORT-LIVED.

Narrator: CIVIL WAR ERUPTED,

HOSPITALS CLOSED DOWN,

AND SOLDIERS ROAMED THE COUNTRY.

FOR HIV,

THESE WERE IDEAL CONDITIONS TO SPREAD AND KILL, UNNOTICED.

OVER TWO DECADES WOULD GO BY

BEFORE ANYONE WOULD REALIZE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

Mike: IT FIRST CAME INTO PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE 1980s,

BUT WE'VE NOW GOT DIRECT EVIDENCE FROM KINSHASA

IN THE 1950s AND '60s

THAT IT WAS ALREADY A DIVERSIFIED EPIDEMIC.

THERE WERE LOTS OF PEOPLE IN KINSHASA WITH THAT VIRUS

EVEN AT THAT EARLY TIME POINT.

Narrator: THE EVIDENCE THAT AIDS WAS WIDESPREAD

IN THE 1960s CONGO

IS IRREFUTABLE.

WHILE THIS IS A SHOCKING DISCOVERY,

IT STILL DOESN'T EXPLAIN WHAT THE VIRUS WAS DOING BEFORE 1960,

HOW IT GOT INTO SO MANY PEOPLE,

AND WHERE IT CAME FROM.

DIRK SUSPECTS THERE IS ANOTHER CHAPTER

TO THE HISTORY OF THE VIRUS.

KNOWING THE EXACT LOCATION OF HIV'S FIRST VICTIM

COULD REVEAL THE MISSING PART OF THE STORY.

FOR THAT, HE'S COME TO PHILADELPHIA.

HERE, MEDICAL RESEARCHER BEATRICE HAHN

HAS BEEN TRYING TO IDENTIFY

WHERE EXACTLY THE VIRUS WAS BORN.

Beatrice Hahn: THE REASON WE WANTED TO GO BACK TO THE SOURCE

IS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

I STARTED OUT CHARACTERIZING

THE MOLECULAR FINGERPRINTS OF THE VIRUS.

ONE WAY TO DO THAT

IS TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST IT TO THE NEXT CLOSEST RELATIVES.

AND IT WAS CLEAR FROM THE VERY EARLY DAYS

THAT THESE WOULD BE VIRUSES INFECTING PRIMATES.

AND IN FACT, ONE OF THE EARLIEST VIRUS ISOLATES

THAT WAS IDENTIFIED

WAS FROM A CAPTIVE CHIMPANZEE.

Narrator: IN RURAL AFRICA,

PEOPLE HUNT AND EAT MONKEYS AND CHIMPS.

WHAT NO ONE KNEW

IS THAT THEY DIE OF THEIR OWN VERSION OF AIDS,

CAUSED BY A VIRUS THAT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE HUMAN VERSION.

A SINGLE SLIP OF THE KNIFE,

A DROP OF BLOOD IN A WOUND,

AND THE KILLER HAS JUMPED MONKEY TO MAN.

BUT WHERE DID THAT ACCIDENTAL TRANSMISSION HAPPEN?

CHIMPANZEES LIVE IN RAINFOREST AREAS

IN WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA TO THE NORTH OF THE CONGO RIVER.

FOR DECADES, BEATRICE HAHN'S FIELD WORKERS

HAVE SEARCHED THIS REMOTE CORNER OF THE WORLD

FOR EVIDENCE THEY CAN SEND BACK TO THE LAB.

Men: OOH! OOH! HEE HEE HEE!

WHOA! WHOA! HEE HEE HEE HEE!

Narrator: ONLY THE INDIGENOUS PYGMY PEOPLE,

WHO LIVE IN THESE IMPENETRABLE FORESTS,

KNOW HOW TO FIND THE ELUSIVE CHIMPANZEES.

ARMY MEDIC COLONEL MPOUDI-NGOLE

HEADS UP A TEAM DURING RESEARCH IN CAMEROON.

[SPEAKING FRENCH]

Eitel Mpoudi-Ngole, translated: SOMETIMES THERE ARE DAYS

WITHOUT FINDING ANY SAMPLES,

NOTHING AT ALL.

THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT WORK.

IT TOOK YEARS BEFORE WE OBTAINED ANY RESULTS.

Narrator: THEY PICK UP A TRACK.

Narrator: BUT GETTING A BLOOD SAMPLE FROM A WILD CHIMP

IS IMPOSSIBLE.

SO INSTEAD, THE RESEARCHERS ARE LOOKING FOR FECES

BECAUSE THE DROPPINGS THAT ARE SCATTERED UNDER THE NESTS

ALSO CONTAIN THE FINGERPRINTS OF THE VIRUS.

Narrator: ONLY NESTS FROM THE PREVIOUS NIGHT

PROMISE FRESH FECES.

Narrator: THE RESEARCHERS PUT THE DUNG IN A SPECIAL LIQUID

SO THAT ANY VIRAL MATERIAL IS PRESERVED.

THEY TAKE THE COORDINATES WHERE THE DROPPINGS WERE FOUND.

BY METHODICALLY SEARCHING A VAST AREA

IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN RAINFOREST,

THE HOPE IS TO FIND OUT WHERE EXACTLY HIV WAS TRANSMITTED

FROM CHIMPANZEES TO HUMANS.

BACK IN PHILADELPHIA,

THOUSANDS OF FECAL SAMPLES FROM WILD LIVING CHIMPANZEES

ARE BEING ANALYZED.

ARE THEY INFECTED WITH A VIRUS SIMILAR TO HIV?

AND IF SO,

HOW DOES THE GENOME SEQUENCE OF THEIR VIRUS

RESEMBLE THE HUMAN FORM?

BY IDENTIFYING THE CLOSEST RELATIVE OF CHIMP HIV

TO HUMAN HIV,

THE SCIENTISTS CAN FIND OUT WHERE THE TRANSMISSION

MUST HAVE TAKEN PLACE.

Beatrice: CHIMPANZEE COMMUNITIES ARE RELATIVELY STATIONARY

DUE TO NATURAL BOUNDARIES, LIKE RIVERS,

OR TO HABITAT FRAGMENTATION THROUGH HUNTING.

THEY STAY PUT, AND SO THE VIRUSES STAY PUT.

AND SO YOU CAN COME BACK AND SAY,

THIS IS THE AREA WITH THE CLOSEST RELATIVE,

HENCE THIS IS THE CRADLE OF THE PANDEMIC HIV-1.

Narrator: AFTER YEARS OF DATA COLLECTION,

BEATRICE HAS NARROWED DOWN THE AREA

WHERE HIV MADE THE JUMP FROM CHIMPS TO PEOPLE

TO JUST A FEW SQUARE MILES IN A REMOTE CORNER OF CAMEROON.

GROUND ZERO, THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE KILLER,

IS MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES AWAY FROM KINSHASA.

Dirk: HOW WOULD THE VIRUS FROM HERE

THEN GOTTEN DOWN TO KINSHASA?

Narrator: THE REMOTE LOCATION OF GROUND ZERO IS A BIG CLUE.

BUT ALONE IT RAISES MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.

IT'S A PLACE SO CUT OFF FROM THE WORLD

THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE HOW HIV EVER GOT FROM THERE

TO A BIG CITY LIKE KINSHASA.

DIRK WILL RETURN TO ARIZONA

BECAUSE MIKE HAS DEVELOPED A METHOD

THAT COULD BE CRITICAL TO SOLVING THE RIDDLE.

MIKE HAS RECEIVED DATA FROM AN HIV POSITIVE BLOOD SAMPLE

DATING FROM 1959,

WHICH WAS TAKEN FROM THE CONGO

AND SURVIVED IN A FREEZER IN THE U.S.

IF HE CAN SQUEEZE MORE DATA OUT OF THE TISSUE BLOCKS,

HE WILL BE ABLE TO HOME IN

ON THE COMMON ANCESTOR FOR ALL THESE VIRUSES

AND THE TIME WHEN IT MUST HAVE CIRCULATED--

THE FIRST PATIENT OF MORE THAN 70 MILLION

WHO'VE BEEN INFECTED TO DATE.

Worobey: I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO,

IF WE CAN GET SEQUENCE FROM SEVERAL MORE OF THESE,

TO PLUG THEM INTO THE DATING ANALYSES.

Narrator: MIKE ALWAYS FOUND THE DESERT AROUND TUCSON

INSPIRING.

HE IS NOW CONVINCED

THAT HE CAN PINPOINT THE TIME WHEN HIV EMERGED

TO WITHIN A FEW YEARS.

Worobey: YOU LOOK AT THAT CACTUS AND YOU ASK, HOW OLD IS IT?

NOTHING LEAPS OUT IMMEDIATELY.

BUT IF WE HAD A PHOTO FROM TEN YEARS AGO

AND WE COULD COMPARE HOW QUICKLY THE BRANCHES HAVE GROWN

OVER THAT TEN-YEAR PERIOD,

THAT GIVES US A RATE.

IF IT GROWS AT, SAY, 15, 20 CENTIMETERS PER YEAR,

YOU CAN THEN EXTRAPOLATE BACK

AND SAY, WELL, THAT THING'S PROBABLY 120 YEARS OLD.

WITH HIV, THOSE FOUR BRANCHES MIGHT BE SAMPLES FROM THE 1960s.

THE TALL BRANCH MIGHT BE A RECENT SAMPLE FROM 2013.

THE DIFFERENCE IN HEIGHT BETWEEN THOSE

GIVES YOU THE RATE OF EVOLUTION,

WHICH THEN ALLOWS YOU TO ASSUME THAT SAME RATE

AND GO BACK DOWN THE COLUMN OF THE CACTUS

BEFORE YOUR EARLIEST SAMPLE

AND ESTIMATE WHEN IT GERMINATED.

Narrator: THE SEED OF THE EPIDEMIC,

THE VIRUS THAT INFECTED THE FIRST HUMAN,

THE FIRST OF 70 MILLION VICTIMS,

THE ANCESTOR FROM WHICH ALL LATER STRAINS OF HIV EVOLVED

IS OVER 100 YEARS OLD.

1908 IS MIKE'S BEST ESTIMATE FOR THE ORIGIN OF AIDS--

A DISCOVERY THAT RE-WRITES EVERYTHING WE BELIEVED TO KNOW

ABOUT THE PANDEMIC.

THAT'S SEVEN DECADES

BEFORE PEOPLE STARTED TO DIE IN THE U.S.,

FIVE DECADES BEFORE KINSHASA WAS IN THE GRIPS OF AN EPIDEMIC.

BUT WHY EXACTLY THEN?

WHAT ALLOWED A VIRUS TO LEAP FROM THE JUNGLE

INTO THE WORLD?

CATHERINE COQUERY-VIDROVITCH

IS A HISTORIAN WHO HAS SPENT HER WHOLE ACADEMIC CAREER

STUDYING THE REGION IN CENTRAL AFRICA

WHERE HIV EMERGED.

MAYBE SHE WILL HAVE ANSWERS FOR DIRK.

BY 1908, EUROPEAN NATIONS HAD DIVIDED UP THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

FOR ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION.

FRANCE AND BELGIUM

HAD CARVED OUT CHUNKS OF THE RESOURCE-RICH TERRITORIES

IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

THE BIRTHPLACE OF HIV

FALLS INTO AN AREA THAT WAS TAKEN OVER BY FRANCE.

TODAY, THIS IS THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO,

BORDERING CAMEROON.

Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, translated: THE FIRST WHITES

ARRIVED IN THE AREA AT THE END OF THE 19th CENTURY.

Narrator: THEY CAME FOR THE RICHES OF THE FOREST.

Coquery-Vidrovitch: WHAT COULD BE EXPLOITED AT THAT TIME

WAS IVORY.

AND THEY CAME FOR TAPPING RUBBER.

Narrator: AND THEY ALSO CAME FOR PRECIOUS WOOD,

WORTH A FORTUNE.

Coquery-Vidrovitch: SO, HOW WOULD THEY EXPLOIT ALL THIS?

HOW WOULD THEY TRANSPORT IT WITH NO MONEY?

WITH NO PUBLIC MONEY?

THERE WAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION,

AND THAT WAS TO USE LOCALS AS PORTERS.

Narrator: TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

WERE FORCED TO WORK AS PORTERS.

AMONG THEM, A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL

RIPPED FROM HIS ISOLATED LIFE IN THE DEEP JUNGLE,

WHERE HE OR A CLOSE CONTACT HAD BUTCHERED AN APE.

IN HIS BLOOD SWIRLED ONE OF THE FIRST STRAINS OF HIV.

SURROUNDED BY THOUSANDS OF LABORERS,

THE VIRUS WAS READY TO SPREAD.

AND IT DIDN'T NEED TO WAIT LONG.

HIV SOON GOT HELP FROM ANOTHER DISEASE.

Coquery-Vidrovitch: SLEEPING SICKNESS

APPEARED BETWEEN 1900 AND 1910,

WHEN THE SYSTEM OF FORCED PORTERAGE

REACHED ITS HEIGHT.

Narrator: SLEEPING SICKNESS IS A HIGHLY INFECTIOUS DISEASE

TRANSMITTED BY THE TSETSE FLY,

AND IT SPREAD LIKE WILD FIRE AMONG THE FORCED LABORERS.

THE COLONIALISTS RESPONDED WITH AGGRESSIVE MEDICAL CAMPAIGNS

TO CONTROL THE SLEEPING SICKNESS.

THEY USED NON-DISPOSABLE STEEL NEEDLES

TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT THE DISEASE.

OFTEN, CLOSE TO 10,000 PEOPLE WERE TREATED AT A TIME,

WITHOUT PROPER STERILIZATION OF THE NEEDLES.

IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT EARLY HIV

SPREAD IN PART THROUGH DIRTY NEEDLES.

NEXT, HIV HITCHES A RIDE THROUGH A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE

LIKELY BROUGHT TO THE COUNTRY BY EUROPEANS:

SYPHILIS.

Coquery-Vidrovitch: WOMEN WERE SEEN AS OBJECTS

TO BE EXPLOITED FOR LABOR AND FOR SEX,

WITHIN THE FAMILIES,

AND OF COURSE BY THE FIRST COLONIALISTS.

SO, IF MEN WERE INFECTED, THEY'D PASS IT ON.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES SPREAD EXPONENTIALLY.

Narrator: SYPHILIS DECIMATED THE LOCAL POPULATION.

HAVING OPEN SORES MAKES TRANSMITTING HIV

400 TIMES MORE LIKELY.

THE CHAOS OF COLONIAL EXPLOITATION

CREATED THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE VIRUS TO EXPLODE

FROM AN ISOLATED CORNER OF THE JUNGLE

TO A LARGER POPULATION.

BY 1930, IT WAS WELL ON ITS WAY.

ALL IT NEEDED NOW WAS A TICKET OUT OF AFRICA.

Dirk: THE VIRUS WAS VERY FORTUNATE

TO HAVE REACHED KINSHASA,

TO HAVE COME AT A CROSSROAD OF TURMOIL.

ONE AFTER THE OTHER, A SUCCESSION OF DISASTERS,

AND THAT DEFINITELY GAVE IT A PASSPORT TO TRAVEL THE WORLD.

Narrator: WE HAVE AT LAST TRACED THE AIDS PANDEMIC

BACK TO ITS VERY BEGINNINGS.

THE SANGHA RIVER IN CAMEROON.

THIS IS THE VERY SPOT WHERE DIRK BELIEVES

HIV BEGAN ITS FATEFUL JOURNEY OUT OF THE JUNGLE.

JUST LIKE A CENTURY AGO,

FOREIGN COMPANIES STILL PILLAGE THE RICHES OF THE RAINFOREST,

PRECIOUS WOODS SHIPPED OFF TO THE U.S.,

TO EUROPE, AND CHINA,

WITH LITTLE IN RETURN.

THOUSANDS OF MIGRANT LABORERS

STILL TOIL FOR THE LOGGING COMPANIES.

AND WITH NO OTHER FOOD AVAILABLE,

SLAUGHTERING BUSH MEAT IS STILL AN IMPORTANT WAY TO SURVIVE.

IT'S THE PERFECT ENVIRONMENT FOR ANOTHER KILLER VIRUS TO EMERGE--

AGAIN, ONE WE MIGHT NOT NOTICE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

A RESEARCH TEAM

MAKES THE TWO-DAY TREK TO THIS REMOTE OUTPOST

AS OFTEN AS THEY CAN.

ARMY MEDIC DR. EITEL MPOUDI-NGOLE

HAS COME TO DRAW BLOOD

FROM PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE EXACT SPOT

WHERE 100 YEARS AGO THE AIDS VIRUS FIRST APPEARED...

BECAUSE HE SUSPECTS

ANOTHER DEADLY VIRUS MAY BE BREEDING HERE.

Mpoudi-Ngole, translated: EMERGING DISEASES

THAT SPREAD FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS

ARE A MAJOR THREAT TO HUMANITY.

IT'S A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM.

THERE ARE MANY NEW DISEASES.

INTER-SPECIES TRANSMISSIONS ARE ON THE RISE--

GERMS PASSING BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS.

THESE INTER-SPECIES TRANSMISSIONS

CAN CAUSE NEW EPIDEMICS.

THEY THREATEN PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE POPULATION

BECAUSE HUNTING IS A MAJOR ACTIVITY HERE.

Narrator: UP TO 10% OF THE PEOPLE HERE

SHOW SIGNS OF VIRUSES IN THEIR BLOODSTREAMS

THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN IN HUMANS BEFORE.

THIS COULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT PANDEMIC.

Beatrice: YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE DO TO NATURE

AND WHAT THE RESULTS AND CONSEQUENCES ARE.

AND ONE ASPECT OF THAT IS THAT WE, THROUGH OUR ACTIONS,

OPEN UP NEW NICHES AND AVENUES AND NEW WAYS OF EXPOSURE

TO PATHOGENS THAT WE WERE NOT EXPOSED TO BEFORE.

Narrator: HIV EXPLOITED THE CHAOS OF COLONIALISM IN AFRICA

TO SPREAD UNNOTICED FOR ALMOST A CENTURY.

AND WHEN WE FINALLY WOKE UP IN THE 1980s,

MORE PRECIOUS TIME WAS LOST

BY BLAMING THE WRONG PEOPLE FOR THE WRONG REASONS.

Piot: WE WASTED SO MUCH TIME IN DEALING WITH HIV,

AND WE COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE--

FIRST OF ALL BY RECOGNIZING THAT WE HAD A PROBLEM.

IF, IN THE '80s,

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EPIDEMIC,

WE WOULD HAVE HAD A MASSIVE EFFORT OF THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY,

EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF DRUGS,

WE WOULD HAVE SAVED MILLIONS OF LIVES.

Narrator: UNDERSTANDING WHERE AIDS CAME FROM,

HOW AND WHY IT SPREAD

IS CRITICAL FOR OUR FUTURE SURVIVAL.

WHEN THE NEXT PANDEMIC BREAKS OUT,

KNOWING ITS TACTICS

COULD BE THE BEST CHANCE WE HAVE TO DEFEAT IT.

Worobey: HIV IS JUST ONE EVENT,

ONE THING THAT'S HAPPENED.

IT'S NOT GOING TO BE THE LAST VIRUS THAT JUMPS INTO HUMANS.

THERE MAY BE SOMETHING ELSE

THAT'S CIRCULATING IN A FEW PEOPLE RIGHT NOW

THAT MIGHT BE THE NEXT HIV.

Narrator: THIS IS WHY DIRK KEEPS THE TISSUE SAMPLES

LIKE THE ONES THAT HAVE GIVEN US SUCH AN INTIMATE INSIGHT

INTO ONE OF THE BIGGEST KILLERS OF OUR TIMES, HIV,

LOCKED UP IN A BANK SAFE IN BELGIUM--

SO FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN ONCE AGAIN TURN TO THESE SAMPLES

IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE UNKNOWN ENEMY.

Dirk: WELL, IT IS SOMETHING OF THE FUTURE,

BECAUSE VIRUSES NOW HAVE

NOT ONLY THE OPPORTUNITY TO JUMP SPECIES VERY EASILY

BECAUSE WE CONTINUOUSLY INTRUDE IN THEIR HABITAT.

BUT ON TOP, VIRUSES TRAVEL THE WORLD IN 24 HOURS.

WE SHOULD BE VERY HUMBLE TOWARDS NATURE.

AND I THINK THAT'S THE MAJOR LESSON.

IF WE FORGET THIS,

THAT WOULD BE SO DEVASTATING FOR OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN.