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HIV/AIDS What is HIV? HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a retrovirus that infects and destroys helper T-cells of the immune system, causing the marked reduction of healthy T-cells. What is AIDS? AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is the most severe manifestation of infection with the HIV virus of the body’s immune system. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) lists numerous infections that, in the presence of HIV infection constitute an AIDS diagnosis. Having a CD4 T-cell count of 200 or less. A normal CD4 T-cell count is 500-1500. A brief history. Some scientists believe that HIV virus spread from Chimpanzees to humans between 1926-1946. Recent research indicates it may have been as early as 1675, but did not establish itself as an epidemic strain in Africa until 1930. The first proven AIDS death happened in the Congo in 1959. Between 1978-1981 a growing number of people in the US, Sweden, Tanzania, and Haiti beg