200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

First Report of AIDS

Why this source is used

CDC MMWR anniversary record describing the 5 June 1981 report of Pneumocystis pneumonia cases in Los Angeles and the early AIDS investigation.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism? HIV/AIDS changed public health by forcing faster surveillance, treatment approval, community-led prevention, visible memorialisation and international awareness. Read the topic guide HIV/AIDS Public Health and Memory The HIV/AIDS crisis reshaped public health through surveillance, treatment activism, drug approval, memorial culture and global awareness days.

Source Status

Publisher
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Type
government
Reliability
high
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5021a1.htm Accessed 2 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5021a1.htm

Used by Topics

HIV/AIDS Public Health and Memory

Used by Questions

How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism?

Used by Timeline Events

5 June 1981 Health

First Official Report of AIDS in the United States

The US Centers for Disease Control published a report describing cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia in five previously healthy young gay men in Los Angeles — the first official documentation of what would become known as AIDS. By December 1981, 337 cases of severe immune deficiency had been reported across the US, marking the beginning of a pandemic that would claim over 40 million lives worldwide.