More than a thousand people in four states have been infected with a virulent virus whose symptoms start out like a common cold but sometimes end in death, according to The Washington Post.

The paper says at least 10 people have been killed by a variant of the strain known as adenovirus 14.

"Health officials say the virus does not seem to be causing life-threatening illness on a wide scale, and most people who develop colds or flulike symptoms are at little or no risk," the Post reports. "Likewise, most people infected by the suspect adenovirus do not appear to become seriously ill. But the germ appears to be spreading, and investigators are unsure how much of a threat it poses."

The paper says infections have been reported in Texas, Washington, South Carolina and New York. Last month, a Los Angeles Times report said that 106 soldiers contracted the virus at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. One died, the paper says.