A plague on the human race

摘要

As we approach the end of the millennium, is the end of the world nigh? War and political strife confront us at every turn, ominous comets streak the sky and our food is tainted. To top it all, a new breed of diseases is about to overwhelm us. Consultant physician Frank Ryan describes the real threat of the coming plague. High in the mountains of New Mexico in May 1993, a mysterious virus began to attack the Navajo population. Almost every one of the 13 victims of the initial outbreak died within a few hours of contracting what turned out to be a new strain of hantavirus. More cases have been cropping up in the region. Most worrying is that the disease is carried by a widespread American rodent, the charmingly named deer mouse.