In other words, in a given host, the higher the 50-percent-effective dose, the less virulent the infective organism; or, with a microorganism of known virulence, the higher the ED50 with the host it is tested against, the greater the resistance of that particular host.
So far this year the British police, in five separate raids, one on a London mosque notorious for the virulence of its leading preacher, have arrested 26 suspects, nearly all of them also from North Africa.Since September 11th 2001, around 200 Muslim terrorist suspects have been arrested in Europe more than in any other region including more than 50 in the past two months.
But what is happening now is "much worse than the terrorism of 20 years ago," says Bishop Makarios of Minya.The virulence of the latest campaign stems from a perception among many Islamists, but particularly followers of the puritan Salafist school, that Christians helped orchestrate the July 3rd coup that toppled Muhammad Morsi.
HOWEVER much Arabs, Turks and Iranians blame the Americans for making a mess of the Middle East and most of them, with varying degrees of virulence, certainly do they at least tend to agree on one thing: that chaos, especially in today's Iraq, benefits nobody except those who share the apocalyptic vision of Osama bin Laden and his friends.
Kevin Ariën, the lead author of the paper, stresses that the study is based on a small set of samples and does not prove that HIV's virulence is attenuating around the world.
But the virulence of the campaign, on both sides (Mr Morse says his foes are "lying on steroids"), provides a clue to the deeper forces at work: the polarising of politics in a traditionally moderate place.Long a swing state, Colorado has lately leaned to the left (see chart).
Its official virulence towards "the Great Satan" remains on autopilot, and its record on human rights is still poor, though improving.
Its virulence has subsided, but the symptoms remain.
How many would die would depend on the virus's virulence.
