Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) . It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi, an Austro-Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872. It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining illnesses in the 1980s.