Data from: The early spread and epidemic ignition of HIV-1 in human populations

Thirty years after the discovery of HIV-1, the early transmission, dissemination and establishment of the virus in human populations remain unclear. Using statistical approaches applied to HIV-1 sequence data from central Africa, we show that from the 1920s Kinshasa was the focus of early transmission and the source of pre-1960 pandemic viruses elsewhere. Location and dating estimates were validated using the earliest HIV-1 archival sample, also from Kinshasa. The epidemic histories of HIV-1 group M and non-pandemic group O were similar until ~1960, after which group M underwent an epidemiological transition and outpaced regional population growth. Our results reconstruct the early dynamics of HIV-1 and emphasize the role of social changes and transport networks in the establishment of this virus in human populations.

自人类发现人类免疫缺陷病毒1型（HIV-1）以来的三十年里，该病毒在人群中的早期传播、扩散及定植过程仍不明朗。本研究通过对中非地区HIV-1序列数据应用统计学分析方法，证实自20世纪20年代起，金沙萨便是早期传播的核心区域，同时也是1960年前全球其他地区大流行病毒的起源地。研究通过同样采自金沙萨的最早HIV-1存档样本，对病毒的传播区位与时间估算结果进行了验证。人类免疫缺陷病毒1型M组与非大流行O组的流行史在约1960年前较为相似，此后M组经历了流行病学转变，其传播速度超过了区域人口增长速率。本研究结果重构了HIV-1的早期流行动态，并强调了社会变革与交通网络在该病毒向人群定植过程中的关键作用。