"We now know where the epidemic began: a small patch of dense forest in southeastern Cameroon. We know when: within a couple of decades on either side of 1900. We have a good idea of how: A hunter caught an infected chimpanzee for food, allowing the virus to pass from the chimp's blood into the hunter's body, probably through a cut during butchering. As to the why, here is where the story gets even more fascinating, and terrible." (Washington Post, Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin, 2/27)

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