A diagnosis of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is made by a physician. An HIV-infected person may be diagnosed with AIDS if he or she meets certain clinical criteria. Criteria include becoming sick with an illness defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as an AIDS-indicator illness (illnesses that take advantage of the body's weakened immune system) and/or by taking a blood test that shows that the person's immune system is severely damaged.

There are no common symptoms for individuals diagnosed with AIDS. When immune system damage is more severe, people may experience opportunistic infections (called "opportunistic" because they are caused by organisms which cannot induce disease in people with normal immune systems, but take the "opportunity" to flourish in people with HIV). Most of these more severe infections, diseases and symptoms fall under the Centers for Disease Control's definition of full-blown "AIDS.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency ["im-you-no-de-fish-en-see"] Virus -- is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV attacks and kills the cells in our bodies that keep us from getting diseases. This makes people with HIV get illnesses that healthy people do not get. When a person with HIV gets very sick from pneumonia, some kinds of cancer, and other life-threatening diseases, they are said to have AIDS. AIDS is a fatal disease. Here is more information on HIV/AIDS.

NO. You cannot get AIDS or any other disease by giving blood. The materials, including the needle used for your donation, are new, sterile, disposable and used only once, for your blood donation and are then discarded.

We believe that our American travelers are aware of the sources of transmission of AIDS. There is no greater risk of exposure on a safari than there is at home. Mosquitoes do not transmit AIDS. While no one can be certain of the purity of the blood supply at home or abroad, there are blood screening facilities in Johannesburg and Nairobi. These hospitals are staffed by South African, American and European trained doctors, nurses, and technicians and have high standards of medical care.