"Exactly when and where and how

it first began, nobody knows. Prob-

ably we will never know for sure.

The first cases may have occurred

as little as ten years ago, more

likely twenty or thirty years, ago,

but not much more. Almost cer-

tainly the earliest tragic victims

simply sickened and died for no

apparent reason, without any idea

what was wrong with them."

Thus begins the story of a mod-

ern plague that has already killed

over twelve thousand Americans,

a virus that has r~o known cure and

is spreading. Once called the "Gay

Plague," AIDS (acquired immune

deficiency syndrome) is not a

disease confined to the homosex-

ual community; also at high risk

are intravenous drug users,

through the sharing of needles,

and hemophiliacs, through in-

fected blood products. And evi-

dence is mounting that the disease

is being spread heterosexually as

well.

What is this disease that kills so

cruelly and seems unstoppable? In

the fall of 1982 scientists in the

United States and in France~an-

nounced that they had isolated the

virus that caused AIDS. Since then

more and more has been learned

about it, what forms it takes and in

what time span, and how it can,

through a blood test, be identi/ied

at an early stage.