How long HCV has been around

[JRenquist]

  I know it was only "discovered" recently, but  does anyone know whether it is something that was just not diagnosed before, but was in existence for a long time?  I thought I once read about it being found in old blood samples and old barbicide, but can't remember where I saw it (that happens a lot lately)  Just curious

[reddawg]

Some African had to have sodomized a monkey. Then that Male airline attendent had sex with that African divient, and brought it over to The U.S. This gay airline steward had sex with his buddies. This is why at first it was thought to be a homosexual disease, and probably was until a bi-curious person got involved.

[Harry Potter]

At work, I was reading in my old (circa 1985) medical journal, back when Hep C was classified as "non-A, non-B."  It says that it is similar in symptoms to Hep B, but is passed similarly to Hep A, i.e. fecal contamination (!) and/or via "contaminated water."  Boy, have they learned a lot in 20 yrs!!
PS--my mom's cousin, who is a chemist & is educated (about other things) thinks that you can catch Hep B from eating old mayonnaise (!!!).

[desrt]

It's something fishdoc posted last year and HR has said something to the effect "Everyone should read it and try to understand as much as they can".
So like Richard Sallie's replicative homeostasis papers I keep going back and chipping away at it.

[JRenquist]

Thanks a lot - most of that was way over my head, but I think I got the gist of it.  It's very interesting.

[desrt]

http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/85/11/3173

Article including speculation on HCV evolution and coexistence with humans during the last 100,000-150,000+ years.

[cruelworld]

only monkeys and humans get this particular flavivirus (i think thats what they call it)
so i would assume it evolved  with primates and homo sapiens. at least hundreds of thousands of years old. this is just a wild guess though. i dont know anything about it.