Since 2000, there have been 13 reports in New York City of infants contracting HSV-1, two of whom died from the virus.

CNN: Babies' herpes linked to circumcision practice

The city saves money by contracting for almost all of its basic services with the county, but still reaps the benefits of an elected government, which has been in the hands of a small group of men since the city's founding.

FORBES: City of Greed

Two men have died in the Chinese city of Shanghai, after contracting a strain of bird flu not previously known in humans, Chinese officials say.

BBC: China bird flu: Two men die in Shanghai

The city's financial-services sector has been contracting, and there is considerable uncertainty about European financial markets.

WSJ: Developers Wager on Big City Office Towers

In 2009, the city quarantined 286 guests staying at a downtown hotel for seven days after a Mexican traveller was confirmed as contracting swine flu.

BBC: Sars legacy still felt in Hong Kong, 10 years on