West Nile virus: around the world

V.B. Loktev

During the last decades, an almost "alien" menace has threatened humankind. The matter in hand is viruses - the most simply organized and minute organisms, possibly of extraterrestrial nature-which are still a battle ground as scientists continue to argue whether they are "living creatures" or a mere "substance". The state-of-the-moment trespasser on our life and health is the worldwide known swine flu virus. Luckily, West Nile virus is not so famous for the time being. However, the whole world is before it, judging, for example, from the information at the Novosibirsk city site. It is no coincidence that news about West Nile fever on the banks of the Ob River has beaten all records, leaving behind even the photo report on the Bikini Show