Can anyone tell me where/how did hepatitis C begin?

I believe in the 80's Hep c was called Non-a Non-B Hepatitis. At one time I worked for a company that was still researching Hep_c
I would have to really read up on a answer for you. I do know that data states that one most likely got hep-C from IV use or high risk behavior in the 80's. May I suggest going to hepatitis research.com maybe looking it up you could get a 800 number that could answer your question. I do know for a fact that people that are ignorant of Hep=C can be very cruel do to lack of knowledge. Personal experience has showed me to be careful who I share my medical history with. Good news is that Hep-C people can donate organ's, their are lot's of support groups and also there are so many different truly sad testimony on situations on contracting Hep-C. Hope I helped

Ancient History
It is impossible to really know the origins of hepatitis C since there are no stored blood samples to test for the virus that are older than 50 years. However, given the nature of the evolution of all viruses, hepatitis C has probably been around for hundreds of thousands of years or more before evolving into the current strains.
Some experts speculate that since HGV/GBV-C, a close relative of HCV, originated in Old and New World primates, the beginnings of HCV might be traced back to 35 million years ago. However, this is just speculation and it is impossible to corroborate these theories at the present time. On firmer ground is the prediction that the different subtypes of HCV originated approximately 200 years ago and that the six main genotypes of HCV most likely had a common ancestor approximately 400 years ago. However, it has also been pointed out that it is difficult to limit the origin of HCV to such a short period of human history because the virus is found in remote areas all over the world. As well, the virus is mainly spread by direct blood to blood contact, making it difficult to spread and evolve rapidly鈥攅specially considering that the main transmission routes (blood product use and needle use) have only been in existence for a short period of time.

1957
Scientists discovered the antiviral properties of interferon, a naturally occurring substance in 1957. It was named interferon since it has the ability to 鈥榠nterfere鈥?with viral replication. Three different types of interferon were identified鈥攁lfa, beta and gamma. While it was found that there is only one form of beta and gamma interferon, it was discovered that there were many forms of alfa interferon. Interferon was approved to treat a variety of disorders including hairy cell leukemia, and Kaposi鈥檚 sarcoma.

1960-1970鈥檚
Scientists developed blood tests to identify hepatitis B (1963) and hepatitis A (1973), but many of the blood samples taken for post-transfusion illness tested negative for hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
Given that the mode of transmission (blood transfusion) was the same, scientists classified the unidentified cases as non-A, non-B hepatitis. It is now believed that approximately 90-95% of cases previously classified as non-A, non-B were actually hepatitis C.

1980-1990鈥檚
In the 1980鈥檚, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control (headed up by Daniel W. Bradley) and Chiron (Michael Houghton) identified the virus. In 1990, blood banks began screening blood donors for hepatitis C, but it wasn鈥檛 until 1992 that a blood test was perfected that effectively eliminated hepatitis C from the blood transfusion supply. Now the risk of contracting hepatitis C through a blood transfusion is approximately .001%. Prior to the screening of the blood supply for hepatitis C, approximately 300,000 Americans contracted hepatitis C through blood transfusions or blood products.

2001
Peg-Intron (Schering鈥檚 pegylated interferon alpha-2b) was the first pegylated interferon FDA approved to treat hepatitis C. Peg-Intron is a powder that needs to be reconstituted (with a sterilized solution) before it can be injected. Peg-Intron also needs to be dosed by a person鈥檚 body weight. Peg-Intron is now available in a 鈥淩edipen鈥?for dosing and reconstitution.
hope u got what u wanted....