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did they ever determine how HIV got passed to the first human?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088480/

Humans contracted SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) from monkeys that they killed for bushmeat. This had likely been happening for centuries (or millennia), but had not resulted in HIV. SIV only stays in humans for a short time before being eliminated, so it had to be rapidly passed between partners many times in a short span in order to mutate enough to become HIV. A couple factors allowed this to happen:

1) European-driven development of the Congo river region. This pushed migrant populations up and down the river, often with multiple sexual partners.

2) The introduction of ulcerative STDs into the population which drastically increased the chances of SIV (later HIV) transmission.

What's interesting is that despite its reputation as a "gay disease" in the Western world, most of the transmission in Africa occurred among straight people, often ones with multiple long-term sexual partners as well as those with ulcerative STDs. Also, this mutation of SIV->HIV likely happened many times independently, creating HIV-1 (and subtypes) and HIV-2.
 
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Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
Mutilated monkey meat.
Dirty little birdie feet.
Great green globs of greasy, grimy gopher guts,
That's what I want for lunch!
 
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