Where did Hepatitus C come from?!
Question: I know what it does and how you could catch Hep C, but what exactly is it? Where did it come from? I know its an effective viral pathogen, a virus, but it must have started somehow from something or somewhere. ?
Answers: I know what it does and how you could catch Hep C, but what exactly is it? Where did it come from? I know its an effective viral pathogen, a virus, but it must have started somehow from something or somewhere. ?
Hepatitis C virus is an RNA virus (that's the type of genetic material it has) in the family of flaviviruses. Like all other viruses it evolved as an organism that needed to use cells of superior organisms to multiply itself. The virus has probably eveolved with its host (humans) for several hundreds thousand years. Although the exact origin of the virus is unclear, many scientist believe that the virus originated from a common ancestor virus that branched off into two viruses, that continued to infect chimpanzees and the other which could better infect primitive humans. This probably happened about 35 million years ago, judging by the mutation rate of the virus. So it's been evolving with us since we were barely out of out monkey hair.
Hope this helps.