US health officials said Thursday that a mutated version of a common cold virus is spreading across the United States and has claimed the lives of 10 people, according to media reports.

To date, there have been at least 140 adenovirus 14 (Ad14) illnesses across the country with cases appearing in New York, Oregon, Washington State and Texas, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a report.

Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren't considered lethal. But the CDC said this new mutant is different in that it can make healthy young adults severely ill.

"What really got people's attention is these are healthy young adults landing in the hospital and, in some cases, the ICU," said Dr. John Su, an infectious diseases investigator with the CDC.

In the CDC report, the earliest case of the mutated virus was found in an infant girl in New York City, who died last year. Earlier this year, illnesses from the virus were reported at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where a 19-year-old female recruit died from the virus.

In April, Oregon health officials learned of a cluster of cases at a Portland-area hospital. They ultimately counted 31 cases, including seven who died with severe pneumonia. The next month, Washington state officials reported four hospitalized patients had the same mutated virus. One, who also had AIDS, died.

The CDC suspects others apart from the four states mentioned have been affected by the new strain of the virus.

It's not clear how the changes made it more lethal, said Linda Gooding, an Emory University researcher who specializes in adenoviruses. There are no good antiviral medications for adenoviruses.

(Agencies via Xinhuanet November 16, 2007)