Editing Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS (section)

===Sexual intercourse with an animal will avoid or cure AIDS===
In 2002, the National Council of [[Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals|Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (NSPCA) in [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]], recorded beliefs amongst youths that [[zoophilia|sex with animals]] is a means to avoid AIDS or cure it if infected.<ref>[http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Aids_Focus/0,,2-7-659_1161152,00.html "Bestiality new Aids myth – SPCA"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219070401/http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Aids_Focus/0,,2-7-659_1161152,00.html |date=2008-12-19 }}, March 25, 2002; retrieved February 22, 2007</ref> As with "virgin cure" beliefs, there is no scientific evidence suggesting a sexual act can actually cure AIDS, and no plausible mechanism by which it could do so has ever been proposed. While the risk of contracting HIV via sex with animals is likely much lower than with humans due to HIV's inability to infect animals, the practice of bestiality still has the ability to infect humans with other fatal [[zoonotic diseases]].{{cn|date=January 2021}}