Donald G Mcneil Jr New York Times

The young scientist, normally calm and measured, seemed edgy when he stopped by his boss's office. "You are not going to believe this one," he told Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. "I think we have an airborne H5N1 virus." The news, delivered one afternoon last July, was chilling. It meant that Dr. Fouchier's r...

The young scientist, normally calm and measured, seemed edgy when he stopped by his boss's office. "You are not going to believe this one," he told Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam. "I think we have an airborne H5N1 virus." The news, delivered one afternoon last July, was chilling. It meant that Dr. Fouchier's r...