Why do scientists consider HIV to be an emerging virus?
A) HIV mutates so rapidly that the virus of today has very little similarity to the virus in the first AIDS patients from the early 1980s.
B) HIV used to infect only chimps, but it has mutated in such a way that it now infects humans.
C) HIV is now starting to cause diseases other than AIDS, such as rare types of cancers and pneumonias.
D) HIV infected humans long before AIDS first become a problem in the early 1980s, but it has now mutated to a more deadly form.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

HIV is considered an emerging virus because it originally infected non-human primates and then crossed over to humans, likely through mutation, allowing it to infect and spread among humans.

Why Do Scientists Consider HIV to Be an Emerging Virus