The virus is like one never seen before, and runs off its own microscopic ferromagnetic hard-drive type structure

Not much information is known about the new virus, and there have already been a number of reported cases across the United States. It is thought that there are many more cases which have not been reported .

The victims, in most cases, do not know that they have been infected, however some more advanced anti-virus programs do give a warning message when the virus is detected. They can not, however, stop the virus. Anti-Virus companies and scientists alike have moved this virus to the top of their priorities list.

People who have been infected have been seen to suffer from increasing memory loss, over a time of roughly 20 minutes, before the virus eventually kills them. This has lead scientists to believe that the infection goes straight to the cerebral cortex of the brain, the outer layer which stores memories, and slowly works its way in.

Extraordinary DNA Makeup of Virus

Scientists at the University of California have taken one of the viruses and studied it. Professor Stein says "This virus is like one never seen before. It is more mechanical than biological, and runs off it's own microscopic ferromagnetic hard-drive type structure."

Normally, viruses infect cells with their own genetic strand, fooling the host cell into creating copies of the virus, which grow inside the cell until it explodes, releasing many more new viruses. This new virus does not carry genes in the traditional biological sense, which is made up of DNA involving the proteins C A T and G, but instead carries a binary version of DNA, made of 1s and 0s.

Despite the non-biological code, it works in much the same way, somehow telling infected cells to create more viruses with the binary genetics. Scientists are baffled by this, and are unsure how long it will be until the virus mutates into a more traditional DNA structure.

When this happens, it is feared that the virus will be transferrable from human to human, rather than just from a computer to a human. This would create a worldwide pandemic.

Governments in Emergency Meetings

Governments from around the world are thought to be holding an emergency meeting in Switzerland on Friday. President Bush and Tony Blair are said to have already held several private phone calls on the matter.

The high level of secrecy from governments on the matter thus far does suggest that no plans have previously been prepared for such an epidemic. It seems the virus has taken everybody by surprise.

"We didn't even know something like this was possible!" Says Professor Stein of The University of California.