The AIDS virus was a major turning point in world history. Contrary to popular belief, if a person donates or receives blood from a hospital or blood bank, that person will not be at risk of transmitting HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, and that person will not be at risk of transmitting AIDS , or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Furthermore, “it is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of simian immunodeficiency virus because some strains of SIV bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two types of HIV” ( AIDS Doctors).On On June 5 [1981] the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [released] a…. report describing cases of a rare lung infection … in five previously healthy young gay men in Los Angeles. All the men [had] other unusual infections as well, indicating that their immune systems [were not working]; two [were] already dead when [this] report [was] published. This… marks the first official news of what [would] become known as the AIDS epidemic. (“Timeline of AIDS”) In 1969, “a fifteen-year-old boy…in Saint Louis, Missouri…[was] the first known North American to die of AIDS” (Kallen 56). The AIDS epidemic represents a turning point in world history because it had a great impact on the scientific advances made during the time of turmoil, helping people to know that this disease was affecting many people around the world and not just a few people in some small areas. .AIDS has evolved over time. There are some theories about how AIDS evolved from HIV and how HIV evolved from SIV. One theory about how HIV came about is the hunter theory. This theory is the most commonly accepted one and is the belief that “SIVcpv was transferred to humans…… middle of paper……Feb. 2014. .Cefrey, Holly. Epidemics: deadly diseases throughout history: AIDS. New York: Rosen Group, 2001. Print. Epidemics: deadly diseases throughout history. Cichocki, Mark, Rn. Living with HIV: A patient guide. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2009. Print. Fake AIDS cures. AVERT, 2013. Web. 3 February 2014. Kallen, Stuart A. The race to discover the AIDS virus: Luc Montagnier versus Robert Gallo. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century, 2013. Print. Origin of HIV and AIDS. AVERT, 2013. Web. 3 February 2014. .Szabo, Liz. “Doctors Report First HIV Cure in Child.” Doctors report the first cure of HIV in a child. USA TODAY, March 4, 2013. Web. February 19. 2014. .