SIV/HIV Transmission to Humans

The history of a disease can provide valuable information for those trying to prevent or cure it, so I believe it is important to know where a disease came from, how it has changed over time, and the methods of transmission associated with it. By knowing these things, researchers will be able to have another piece of the puzzle with which they can form a more complete picture of how the disease interacts with our immune systems and how it can be stopped.
The theories presented for the possible transmission routes for SIV to humans (which then developed into HIV) are very interesting, but I think that the "hunter" theory probably is the most plausible. This theory postulates that chimpanzee SIV was passed to bushmeat hunters in Africa by either ingesting the infected chimpanzee meat or by accidentally getting infected chimpanzee blood on an open wound. Chimpanzee SIV then mutated in the new human hosts and became HIV. This theory makes sense to me because we know how HIV mutates and how similar it is to strains of SIV. The other theories in our reading focused on the spread of HIV rather than the development of it, except for the "conspiracy theory" which seems really ridiculous to me from a biological viewpoint.
Of the theories on the spread of HIV, I believe the contaminated needle theory is plausible as it is entirely possible that needles were reused, especially at that time in history before the widespread fear of contaminated needles became a reality. The oral polio vaccine theory seems unlikely because of the counterarguments described in the reading (macaque monkey instead of chimpanzee, the virus-killing acid in the stomach, and the appearance of HIV prior to the OPV trials).