'Patient Zero'

In his book, And the Band Played On, investigative journalist Randy Shilts identifies a French-Canadian flight attendant, Gaëtan Dugas, as 'Patient Zero'. Shilts claims that Dugas played a key role in the early spread of AIDS in the USA, and the 'Patient Zero' story is widely publicised by the media. The claim is based on a 1984 Centers for Disease Control study which follows a cluster of HIV infections based on a 'patient o', meaning the first case of an epidemic outbreak – not the source. Dugas's name is only cleared in 2016.