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The zoo warned about the dangers the owl would face in the urban wild, warnings that would prove prophetic twelve months later when Flaco would succumb to the dual poisons of rodenticide and a herpesvirus contracted from pigeons.

EBV -- a usually inactive, or latent, herpesvirus -- affects most of the human population; more than 90% of people carry the virus as a passive, typically symptomless infection.

Epstein and Barr isolated the pathogen, which is part of the herpesvirus family, from tumor tissue and demonstrated its cancer-causing potential in subsequent experiments.

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell.

The new information will help to understand the interaction between herpesvirus and host cells.