How East Germany Fabricated the Myth of HIV Being Man-Made

• Despite the fact that the origin of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) being a contamination and a mutation originating from primates is well-documented alternative narratives are often being heard ofespecially in sub-Saharan Africa. One such narrative is about HIV being man-made in a military laboratory in the United States. In this article, it is shown how this narrative was fabricated by the intelligence services in East Germany (German Democratic Republic – GDR) as part of the ideological warfare during the Cold War. The purpose of this article is to put an end to a long-lasting conspiracy theory, which is still alive and may create diversion from serious research on the topic.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Historia (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Övrig annan medicin och hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Other Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Cold War

conspiracy

HIV

man-made

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)