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JUNE 1, 2001

The twenty-year anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS in the United States shows the expanse of the epidemic which has grown to affect 60 million people worldwide.

On June 5, 1981, five previously healthy men in Los Angeles were suffering from Pneumocystis carinii and cytomegalovirus, illnesses which made their immune systems weak. Doctors watched as the men decayed before their eyes.

It took competing doctors four years to discover the cause of AIDS, which is the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. By that time, the first four cases of AIDS were reported in Indian Country, a number which has grown to over 2,700, according to the Indian Health Service.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives with AIDS at about 2,300.

Get the Story:
AIDS approaches grim anniversary (USA Today 6/1)

Today on Indianz.Com:
CDC: HIV statistics point to new 'epidemic' (6/1)

Relevant Links:
AIDS FAQ, Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faqs.htm
AIDS Programs, Indian Health Service - http://www.ihs.gov/medicalprograms/aids
AIDS Resources, Indian Health Service - http://www.ihs.gov/medicalprograms/aids/nhr.asp
Minority risk to AIDS, Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/graphics/minority.htm

Related Stories:
AIDS battle reaches Natives (12/1)
HIV/AIDS cases explode (11/24)
Indian Country warned of AIDS threat (11/16)
HIV/AIDS in Indian Country (11/16)
Center to study health disparities (11/01)