People are still peddling this crap?
A first world junkie who injects, a tribesman drinking contaminated water, a famine-stricken farmer; yes they’re all in different dangerous situations, but when they’ve all got the same virus it’s a bit obvious that that’s a virus one should avoid getting.
The only other way a person who isn’t HIV positive gets their immune system wiped out like that, is heavy radiation exposure. That might be a factor in former USSR countries but not among the people the quotee or myself mentioned.
As for whether the virus was actually ‘discovered’, as early as 1987 you could see photos of it under a microscope.