Modern life is full of many amenities - traveling by jet plane, exotic fruits in supermarkets and powerful modern medicines. However, according to scientists, the return on investment of these amenities is the emergence of new infections.

West Nile fever virus, likely introduced to North America by airliner, is the first example of how international travel can turn any infection into a global problem, researchers at the American Society for Microbiology.

West Nile fever virus, never seen in the Western Hemisphere until 1999, was discovered this year in birds and mosquitoes in 6 states. And if in 1999 the virus was isolated from a type of mosquito, then this year it was detected in 7.

This epidemic underscores the ease with which pathogens can travel from one continent to another. The question is how far they will spread next year.

The epidemic of 1999, in which 7 people died, proves that the population of the whole world is a unique whole in which the spread of new infections is like a fire.

Scientists suggest the virus could enter the United States in two ways: through an infected traveler who was bitten by a mosquito in New York, or by importing an infected bird or mosquito that entered a plane. Contaminated aircraft and steamers can be transported worldwide.

Researchers at the Atlanta Disease Control Center (CDC) in Atlanta believe that the increase in the number of processed foods (such as salads) may contribute in part to food poisoning epidemics.

Since the 1970s, the number of epidemics has tripled, and if in the 1970s an average of 4 people died during epidemics, in the 1990s - 1940s. Now, epidemics, of large volume, spread over many countries.

The main pathogens are 3 microorganisms - salmonella, a new toxigenic strain of Escherichia coli and cyclospore. They can enter food through manure used as fertilizer, when food comes into contact with the soil, or through other sources through cross-contamination (for example, raw eggs).

The last outbreak in the United States resulting from the consumption of infected mangoes was later discovered on a Brazilian farm, where, ironically, measures to disinfect the fruit resulted in their infection. Apparently, the spread of toxigenic bacteria could have contributed to the use of dirty water to wash the fruit. Water enters the fruit through the pores, and researchers believe the fruit is unnecessary to wash or peel.