Their work, published in 1989 with Vanessa M. Hirsch as first author, revealed that SIVsm is closely related to HIV-2. So is SIVmac. “These results suggest that SIVsm has infected macaques in captivity and humans in West Africa,” the group wrote, placing the onus of origination on sooty mangabeys, “and evolved as SIVmac and HIV-2, respectively.”
