The book of infectious diseases and mdash;a living document

Planet Earth continues to be pillaged by its dominant species. Man's incursions into forests have resulted in denudation of massive tracts of land, and the displaced inhabitants and mdash;vectors carrying exotic infectious agents and mdash;have begun to wander deeper into man's territory. In 1993, in South-Western United States, the Sin Nombre virus (the first Hantavirus) normally a pathogen of mice, developed its first taste for Homo sapiens. In 1997, the avian influenza H5N1 virus, jumped species to man. In 2002, a virus of civet cats in the Guangdong Province in Southern China transformed itself into the lethal SARS virus. In 2009, two swine strains, one human strain, and one bird strain of influenza all combined them-selves into a new deadly strain and mdash;the H1N1 Swine Flu virus. And only last year, the MERS-Coronavirus became a new player in the changeable game of infectious disease.