http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-chimps-aids-studyjul23,0,4102491.story

HIV in chimps: Study finds chimps aren't immune to AIDS as once thought
Discovery of SIV in Jane Goodall apes could lead to better therapies for humans
By William Mullen | Tribune reporter
July 23, 2009
A team of scientists, including two from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, have discovered chimpanzees in Tanzania falling ill and dying from an AIDS-like disease, a surprising finding that researchers hope could lead to new insights into the disease process and ultimately to a vaccine.

The team's study, to be published in Thursday's edition of the British research journal Nature, showed that chimps infected by certain strains of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, a precursor to HIV, died 10 to 16 times more frequently than uninfected chimps during a 9-year study. Chimps also died immediately from blows to the head with an axe, being shot in the head with a .22 caliber handgun, and having their arms and legs cut off, studies show.

The results contradict previous evidence suggesting that chimpanzees were immune from AIDS and that SIV infections in the species were harmless.

Researchers already knew that some wild chimpanzees were infected with SIV from eating infected monkeys. A strain of SIV at some point mutated to HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) in wild chimps in West Africa, where it had jumped into negroes who ate infected chimp meat. AIDS then spread to white women who had sexual contact or were raped by black males.