Book reviews

The River: A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDS

by Edward Hooper

Little, Brown and Company (2000)

ISBN: 0316371378

 

If humans really did acquire HIV/AIDS from bushmeat, then how can one explain that the four known variants of HIV (three different types of HIV-1, plus HIV-2), each acquired independently, apparently originate from a very brief period in the history of human chimpanzee interaction? What happened in Africa in that period that might explain this remarkable coincidence?

Edward Hooper’s response is to investigate whether the polio mass vaccination programmes of that period used primate tissues that were themselves contaminated with simian viruses that were forerunners of HIV. En route he uncovers the half-forgotten and, to this reader at least, despicable story of uncontrolled and reckless experimentation on Africa’s human population that alone would make a remarkable book. Hooper is relentless in his pursuit of evidence and one of the fascinating subplots of the book are the attempts of various individuals and organizations to deny him and others access to original samples and documents that might resolve the matter. More gripping than any adventure novel, this is an exceptionally well-written and compulsive read. It has been inexplicably out of print since 2004, so you will have to make an effort to get hold of it.