[3] Born in 1930 in the Danish town of Thisted, Rask practiced medicine in Zaïre for a brief period in 1964, when she was recalled to Europe for training in stomach surgery and tropical illnesses.

Her friend and colleague, Ib Bygbjerg, a physician specializing in communicable diseases, wrote in a 1983 letter to The Lancet that "while working as a surgeon under primitive conditions, she [Rask] must have been heavily exposed to blood and excretions of African patients.

"[5] Starting in late 1974, Rask suffered from symptoms of AIDS,[2] including diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, and fatigue.

Tests also showed that Rask had a nearly non-existent T-cell count, leading to a severely depressed immune system.

At the time, the doctors treating Rask were at a loss to explain her disease progression which, in retrospect, came to be seen as one of the first cases of AIDS recorded outside Africa.