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| - Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
A video on social media claims that AIDS, SARS, Zika, and Ebola are made by humans. We fact-checked and found the claim to be False.
The Claim
A Facebook video claims that AIDS, SARS, Zika, and Ebola are patented which means these diseases are made by humans. The video has received 5.9k likes and 7.5k shares till we last checked.
We have attached a screenshot of the claimed video below:
Fact Check
Are AIDS, SARS, Zika, and Ebola made by humans?
No. AIDS, SARS, Zika, and Ebola are not made by humans. We found that the claim is based on patent numbers 4464465 and 4520113 for AIDS. 7897744 for SARS, atcc-vr84 for Zika and 20120251502 for Ebola.
We researched and found that patent numbers for AIDS do not claim to have invented the AIDS virus.
The U.S. Patent 4464465, which was for a method of producing monoclonal antibodies, expired in 2002. This patent described a new approach that involved transforming B-lymphocytes. It enables continuous production of monoclonal antibodies specific to a particular ligand. It also included cells and compositions related to this method.
U.S. Patent 4520113, which expired in 2004, was related to a technique for identifying antibodies in the serum of AIDS and pre-AIDS patients. The patent involved the biochemical and immunological analysis of antigens associated with the HTLV-III virus, also known as the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus.
Likewise, the patent number given for SARS infection does not claim to have invented SARS virus.
U.S. Patent 7897744 was for the genetic makeup of the SARS virus. This information can be helpful to diagnose, prevent, or treat SARS-related illnesses. The Public Health Agency of Canada applied for the patent in 2004, two years after the virus was first discovered.
In context with Zika: atcc-vr84, it is not a U.S. Patent. It refers to a strain of the Zika virus called “vr84,” available on the website of the nonprofit organization ATCC (American Type Culture Collection). This patent helps will producing counter-measures for the Zika virus.
Lastly, Ebola: 20120251502 refers to a U.S. Patent applied for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2007. This patent was granted because of a new strain of the Ebola virus found in a patient in Bundibugyo, Uganda. The CDC did not invent the virus but rather requested the patent so that companies could use the virus strain to create vaccines and prevent other companies from limiting research on the virus.
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