My thanks to P.J. for passing on the warning. If these viruses do exist,
obviously they are to be avoided. However...

Certain things about the wording of the warnings (pseudo-official yet
murky text, the superhuman capacity of the viruses) suggest that these
viruses are a matter of urban legend (contemporary folklore), possessing
all the narrative excitement and all the truth of alligators in the New
York City Sewers, the escaped killer with the hook on his hand, and the
college dorm rule that you get all A's for the current term if your
roommate commits suicide.

In other words, we can probably all relax. This report is likely to be
bogus. For more on urban legends, see any of a half-dozen books by Jan
Harald Brunvand, viz. _The Vanishing Hitchhiker,_ _The Choking
Doberman,_ etc.

Best wishes,

DRM
-- 
My signature file, attending all mails:

Neither titles nor eloquence do we require, he said, nor an insidious
tongue
nor familiarity with saffron myths on painted scrolls, but patience to
disengage difficulties until matters disclose their essence without
opposition, because the most subtle understanding outweighs mountains.
          -- from Evan S. Connell, _The Alchymist's Journal_