Since Rayford's AIDS infection was almost certainly through sexual contact, and since he had never left the country, researchers presume that AIDS may have been present in North America before Rayford began showing symptoms in 1966.
Eftersom Rayfords hiv-infektion troligtvis berodde på en sexuell kontakt, och eftersom han aldrig tidigare lämnat landet, antog forskarna att aids måste ha funnits i Nordamerika innan Rayford började visa symptom 1966.