Fact check
Is it true: CIA AIDS Origin Theory?
No — this has been debunked.
The claim was initiated by KGB Operation INFEKTION (also known as Operation Denver), starting with a July 1983 article in the Indian newspaper Patriot claiming AIDS was a US Army biological weapon from Fort Detrick. The operation is documented in the Mitrokhin Archive (KGB officer Vasili Mitrokhin defected with KGB records, published 1999) and East German Stasi records. Soviet leader Gorbachev ordered the operation shut down in 1987. Meanwhile, HIV's origin has been established via molecular phylogenetics: SIVcpz (simian immunodeficiency virus in central-African chimpanzees) crossed to humans multiple times in the early 20th century (established ~1920 origin date for HIV-1 group M). This has been published in Science, Nature, and multiple peer-reviewed journals. The CIA-origin claim is a documented lie that has, however, persisted in some communities due to legitimate underlying distrust (e.g. Tuskegee, Fort Detrick's real bioweapons history).
The claim
The claim, promoted by Soviet KGB disinformation Operation Denver/INFEKTION (1983-1987) and subsequent circulation, that HIV/AIDS was created by the US CIA or US Army Fort Detrick biological weapons p
Key evidence
CIA historical involvement in Tuskegee context
Operation INFEKTION / Denver documented
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