The Perfect Pathogen (5 page)

CHAPTER 7

That morning Katie had
been caught in a whirlwind of activity. Things were moving so very fast. By 10
a.m. she had already found herself sitting in on a video conference with the
Washington Director of the CDC and the Chief of Pandemic research, awaiting the
video conference with the Director of the CDC in Atlanta and the Secretary of
Health and Human Services. Exactly at ten, the call started. In addition, as a
surprise, there was a link up with the White House. Katie started to perspire.
This was really moving fast, she thought to herself.

The Director of the CDC, Dr. Bob Gleeson started
by thanking everyone for their attendance and then he asked for introductions.
Besides the group with Katie, in attendance were the Secretary of HHS, the
Director of the CDC, the National Security Advisor, and several members of the
President’s staff.

Sarah Lin, the Washington Director of the CDC,
outlined the situation so far, explaining the sudden, multiple deaths of unknown
cause, the increase in an illness that displays symptoms of stroke, with the
mortality rate among the elderly is at least twenty times higher than normal.
She also reported the anecdotal evidence that groups, other than the elderly,
may be affected.

Dr. Shah had then taken over, explaining the
research that was in progress to try to isolate the cause of the illness. He
expected that it would take several weeks and then the CDC would have to
develop a vaccine to counter the effects of the pathogen. That could take
several months. He indicated that he had his best CDC scientists on the job and
he was optimistic the cause could be isolated.

“I think it is only a matter of time before the
press picks up on the fact that people are dying at a faster rate than normal,”
said Dr. Bob Gleeson. “We need to make a statement to the public at the
earliest opportunity, even if we don’t know for sure what is happening. It is
the only way to keep the press from making the crisis look bigger that it is,”
the CDC Director said with emphasis.

The National Security Advisor, Jim Redman, having
listened to the statements, stepped in, stamping his authority on the
collective.

“I believe this has risen to the level of a
National Security Issue. We, and by that I mean the White House, will take the
lead on any press statements. The President will expect press silence from the
CDC and HHS. We’ll handle all press comments from the White House for the time
being. We need a briefing paper for the President within two hours,” he added.
“We need to go public with something before one of the cable news channels goes
off half-cocked. Therefore, I will plan on the President making a statement
regarding this matter in the next eight hours, after he consults with our major
allies and other world leaders. This is quite serious and the way we handle
this is of vital importance to the U.S – and, indeed, to the rest of the
world.”

The discussion then changed to contingency plans.
They all knew the standard answer to a pandemic was to isolate the patient from
others in order to prevent the spread. But in this instance they didn’t know
how the disease was spread or if it even was a virus. Until they had that basic
information what course of action should they take?  A prudent person may have
everyone work from home and to cease going to locations where large groups
gather, for example, a church or a grocery store. Should everyone break out
face masks and duct tape their windows shut?  There didn’t seem to be any
respiratory problems in the patients who had died. They all agreed that
universal hand-washing should be emphasized and that the President had a tough
decision to make.

“Enough discussion,” Jim Redman said. “I need the
decision paper in my hands in ninety minutes. This may be the most important
paper you have ever written, so make it count. I want to stress that no one is
to discuss this with anyone outside this room until after the President makes
his statement. Now let me ask, has anyone discussed this with anyone who is not
here?”

Katie spoke up, “Earlier this morning I had a
discussion with an ER doctor at one of the local hospitals. I said I was from
the CDC collecting statistics. If asked, he probably would remember he talked
to me and he has my contact information.”

“Oh shit,” said Jim bluntly. “That makes this all
the more urgent. The morgues must be filling up and the police have got to
notice the increase in their reports workload. So, let’s get this going as soon
as possible.”

An hour later a draft paper was circulating among
all of the players, laying out the basic premise of the problem and setting out
three recommended courses of action.

The first, and most conservative option, was to
implement the government contingency plans for a flu pandemic that had been
developed about ten years earlier when there was a threat of the H1N1 virus
devastating the population. Of course this would shut down local governments
and the economy in affected areas. In the current case, early reports indicated
that the entire United States and much of the rest of the world was affected,
so this didn’t seem to be a plausible solution, but it needed to be on the
table nonetheless.

The next option was to recommend to people that
they not congregate in large crowds, wash their hands frequently, and wear a
protective face mask to help prevent the spread of airborne illnesses, just in
case the illness turned out to be transmitted from person-to-person by
respiration.

The third option was to inform the public of the
problem and tell them that the United States, with world partners, was looking
for a solution. That major CDC, military, civilian medical and international
teams were on the case 24/7. That we expect to know the cause in the next
several weeks, after which an antidote vaccine will be developed to stop the
spread of the illness.

The CDC’s recommendation was a mix of option two
and three. They didn’t want to alarm people by suggesting that it was an
airborne illness spread from person-to-person, but at the same time they wanted
to explain that it could be and what precautions could be taken.

The HHS Secretary, Dr. Jennifer Milton, put the
finishing touches on the decision paper and transferred it to Jim Redman for
action. Then she called Jim on the secure line. “Jim, whatever decision the
President makes it will have grave consequences. We need to be prepared to
reach out to the State governments and our global partners immediately after
this goes public. I have yet to call my contact at the World Health
Organization, but I can only imagine that their alarm bells are already going
off. If you can give me a few minutes advance notice, I can also call them just
before the President prepares to make his statement.”

“Will do,” said Jim. “It will be difficult to
contain this, so let me get back to you when the President has made his
decision. Also, know that there will be a Cabinet meeting scheduled forty-five
minutes after he makes his remarks. So, you’ll want to be at the White House
for the remarks and the follow-on meeting.”

“Got it. We will continue to collect information
and I will let you know immediately if there is any breakthrough,” said
Jennifer.

By the time Katie noticed the message from Rob on
her cell phone, she had already had a very long day. She decided to call him
when she got back to her office, her journey there fuelled by the conflicting
thoughts that were racing through her mind. She was concerned for her beloved
group of centenarians: she felt that she had all but abandoned them at the
conference, and wanted to speak to her assistant, Beth, to see how the tour of
the Museum of Natural History was going. She had received a garbled message
from her earlier, but had been so tied up with the task at hand that she didn’t
take it in. Now she was in a full anxiety mode, and she needed to reach Beth to
be reassured that all was well.

When Katie reached the office she saw the message
light blinking on her work phone. The first message was from Beth. She said
that the conference was continuing, but that several more attendees had gone to
the hospital today. The next message was from Melody, Herb’s wife. Her voice
was shaky, almost hysterical. Tears welled up in Katie’s eyes and she felt
nauseous, fearing the worst. She suddenly desperately felt the need to talk to
Rob, and dialed his cell phone.

Katie started to cry the second he picked up, and
pleaded with him to tell her that he and the children were all OK.

“Of course we are, honey,’ he said, soothingly.
“Everyone just arrived home and we are getting ready to go to the Mexican
restaurant since we knew you would be late again.”

Katie’s relief was audible. “Oh Rob, it has been a
horrible day. I can’t speak about it over the phone, but I am coming home now
before I have to face any more problems. The President is supposed to make a
statement on the TV in a few minutes. You should tune in. I will listen to it
on the radio. It is important. I’ll tell you the rest when I get home. I should
be home in forty-five minutes, so please be there when I arrive. I need you.”

“Ok, I’ll be here. We’ll make something at home
for dinner tonight. Maybe chicken nuggets, the kids favorite,” he joked.

“Good. I will see you soon. Rob, I do love you
very much.”

“I love you too honey. Drive safe.”

They hung up. Rob figured she was already upset
enough that now wouldn’t be a good time to tell her about the student that had
died. It was going to be a tough evening. He turned on the TV to catch the
President’s statement while he fixed the kids some chicken nuggets, but the
statement was delayed. The kids finished their meal and Rob sent them off to
prepare for their homework. At least this part of his life was normal for right
now.

CHAPTER 8

“Kids, come quick, the
President is getting ready to speak. Mom says this is very important,” said
Rob.

The dinner was just coming out of the oven, so Rob
fixed the kids plates and they all sat around the TV waiting to hear what the
President had to say. The kids didn’t know yet about the death at the Center.
Rob was waiting to talk with Katie first. Now, with the speech, and what he
expected would be said, it would be clear to the kids that people were going to
be dying.

The President was a healthy man, in his
mid-forties, just a couple of years older than Rob. Previously, he held office
as the Governor of Delaware and had been intimately involved in the contingency
planning for various types of terrorist actions following the attacks of 9/11.
As helpful as the planning had been, as President he was just now realizing
that the emergency actions necessary for an isolated incident or locality was
much easier than an action that needed to be taken across the globe. The
complexity of the problem was unfathomable. “How do you isolate all of humanity?”
he thought to himself.

From the left of the podium you could see people
moving as the President entered the White House Press room. His characteristic
smile was missing which could only mean one thing, bad news. As he reached the
podium he looked out across the mass of reporters, standing room only, and
looked directly into the camera.

“My fellow Americans, I come before you today to
discuss a problem that is affecting everyone in our nation, as well as most of
the people across the globe as far as we can tell. I am not here to raise an
alarm, on the contrary, I am here to reassure you that the United States, along
with its world partners has combined arms to find a solution to a global issue
that now confronts us. Earlier today, I was informed that there is an illness
that is spreading around the world. As of now, we do not know the cause of the
illness, but we do know that it is predominately affecting the elderly and
those in poor health. We have teams of research scientists in Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore, Atlanta, and elsewhere working around the clock to determine the
cause. We have reached out to our worldwide partners to do the same,” said the
President.

“As of this moment I cannot definitively tell you
when we will know the cause of the illness or how we will be able to prevent it
or treat it. But I can assure you that we are putting all of our resources
toward finding the cause and a cure to this problem. We do not know how the
illness is contracted and we do not know if the illness is transmitted from one
person to another. These are key questions that will drive our precautionary
measures. For now, we are not recommending that people take any precautionary
measures, but this may change. We will be providing daily briefs on this issue
until it is resolved. The Federal Government will be providing help to the States
as requested. I know many of you have lost loved ones in the last couple of
days, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. I look forward to talking to
you again over the next several weeks as we work toward a solution. God Bless
you all and God Bless the United States of America”

Rob had listened to the speech carefully trying to
detect any nuances in the President’s words. It appeared to him that the
President had been very direct and had not minced his words. He immediately
wondered if this disease is what had killed his student. Seth did have a
weakened respiratory system and had some minor heart defects. It wasn’t clear
to him that there was a link, but he had a gut feeling that there probably was.

Brett piped up first, “Well, if I heard the President
correctly, there is something going around that is basically killing old
people. So we don’t have to worry, except for our grandparents. Is that what
you heard dad?”

“Well, basically, yes, that is what he said. I
think the bigger issue is that they don’t know what is causing the illness and
they don’t know if it will affect anyone else. I guess we will have to wait for
more information. I did talk to both sets of grandparents earlier this evening
and they are both fine,” said Rob reassuringly.

“That’s good,” said Hope. “Maybe we should plan on
getting together with them this weekend in case something does happen.”

Rob smiled - Hope was always admirably to the
point and pragmatic.

“That might be a good idea Hope. I’ll discuss this
with mom when she gets home. She should be home in a few minutes. Has everyone
gotten their homework done?”

A chorus of moans and complaints followed as Rob
ushered the kids out of the family room and down the hall to their rooms.

Rob decided to sit outside to meet Katie when she
arrived. Marveling at the dark clear sky filled with thousands of stars, he
could see their reflections as they danced across the ripples on the Patuxent
River. In the distant northwest he could see the faint glow of Washington, D.C.
They were only forty-five miles from the center of world power, but out in the
countryside of southern Maryland it felt like they were light years away. There
was a feeling of safety and security here that he couldn’t explain, but that he
nonetheless gravitated to, especially in times of stress. He could happily sit
out here for hours on end, but the pull of life kept him from doing it as often
as he would like.

Rob was snapped out of his daydream by Katie’s
arrival, and he hurried over to the car to help her with her things. As Katie
got out of the car, she clung on to Rob as if she would never let go. They
stood there in an embrace and Katie wept for several minutes until she calmed,
drawing strength from Rob. She leaned back and gave him a light kiss and said,
“Thank you for being here. I have so much I need to share with you right now.”

They sat together on the porch swing, looking out
across the river as Katie explained everything.

When she finished, Rob asked: “I heard the
President’s speech and he indicated the disease was only affecting the elderly.
But Herb was only 72?  Did he have some health problem?”

“Well, he was overweight and he told me once he
had high blood pressure. It could be that it was just his time, but you know I
don’t believe in coincidences,’ said Katie.

“It just doesn’t make sense. Our parents are about
the same age and I called them earlier and want to let you know that everyone
is fine. Oh, by the way, Hope thinks we should visit them based on the
President’s speech. Maybe a little bit of an overreaction, but what do you
think?”

“I was thinking we should visit them, based on my
feelings since Herb’s death. Hope must have my emotional genes,” chuckled
Katie, smiling for the first time today.

“I do have some news from the Center,” Rob said.
“I will start with the bad since I think it might be related to what you have
been talking about. We lost a student. He had Cerebral Palsy, with some
respiratory and heart issues. Everyone else seems to be fine.”

“Oh my God,” gasped Katie. “Do the kids know?”

“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you about it first.
I don’t know if it is associated with what the President said. The kid’s take
away from the speech is that they are safe, only the very old are at risk. I
wasn’t ready to pop that bubble until after talking to you.”

“My guess is that the death is related to all that
I heard and saw today. I don’t think it is necessarily an age-related illness.
I think if you are in your seventies and in good health, you are safe, at least
for now. I think we should hold off telling the kids for a day or two. Let’s
see if there are any breakthroughs that can shed some light on what is really
happening,” she said. “Now, you said you had some good news too, so let me hear
it.”

“Oh yes, I nearly forgot. I met with Will Walters
today. He wrote me a check for two million dollars to build all fifteen pods at
the Center. And, the Council of Churches gave me five hundred thousand to boot.
So, in just one day, we’ve raised all of the money we need and the gears are
turning to break ground, maybe late this week or early next week. Since it is
all modular, I expect to have the structure finished in sixty days and then we
just need to furnish it,” said Rob with a big smile.

“Finally some good news,” said Katie.

Rob put his arm around his wife, pulling her into
him. She felt safe there, as they sat on the swing for the next half hour just
staring out across the water. She didn’t know how she was going to get through
the next day or what it would bring, but for now she felt calm.