Read Pandemic for Free Online

Nantal laughed. "I think you are getting ahead of yourself." He turned to Haldane. "Have you had a chance to peruse the material we sent?"
    Haldane rummaged through his carrying case, pulling out the e-mail printouts, before sliding into the seat beside Yuen. "I read through what you sent, Jean, but there are a few holes in the picture."
    "No shite!" McLeod piped up. "You could drive a tank through them"
    Nantal flashed his unflappable smile. "Let's review what we do know, shall we?' He looked over at Streicher, "Helmut, for Noah's benefit, do you mind reviewing the fascinating details you've just shared?"
    Streicher frowned before reaching for the open laptop computer in front of him. "Please." He pointed at the screen on the far wall. He clicked the mouse and a map of China appeared. He tapped a key and the map zoomed in on northern China. An area in the screen's center, roughly the shape of Florida, turned light pink. "Gansu Province."
    Streicher clicked the mouse again. A small red "X" appeared north of the largest regional center, Jiayuguan City. "First known infection was documented on a farm fifty miles north of Jiayuguan City."
    "Same old story, Haldane," McLeod cut in. "Pigs, sheep, ducks, and Farmer Chan all drinking out of the same water supply. Common waste system, too. Shite! The whole farm probably ate with the same pair of bloody chopsticks. Their viruses allowed to--no. hell, encouraged to--mingle, share DNA secrets, and superinfect each other's hosts. Lo and behold we get the second coming of the plague."
    McLeod waved to My Li Yuen in a belated "no offense" gesture, but his diatribe had no visible effect on her. His acknowledgment, however, caused her to flush. "I know, Duncan," she said in a slight high-pitched voice with only a trace of an accent. "You don't hate all Chinese, right?" she giggled.
    "Very true. Especially the Taiwanese. Marvelous folks. Shite, Milly, truth be known, I've got a gigantic crush on you." He blew her a kiss, which drew another giggle and a deeper shade of red from the microbiologist.
    "As I was saying," Streicher said, unamused. "According to the authorities the first four cases, two adults and two children, developed symptoms just over three weeks ago. "
    "Has the Chinese government played ball so far?" Haldane asked.
    Nantal nodded. "Noah, it seems they've learned from their last experience," he said, without specifying the SARS outbreak. "They're the ones who invited us to come."
    "Fucking great!" hollered the redheaded Scot "I was wondering where to send the thank-you card!"
    Like a child whose story had been interrupted one time too many, Streicher huffed and raised his voice louder. "Over the ensuing two weeks we see direct spread to neighboring farms. Eighty infected, twenty dead. The notable feature in this pocket of infection is the very short incubation period. Two to three days."
    Streicher tapped the button and a few more Xs appeared in a cluster around the first one. "From these index cases," he said, using the medical term for the first patient or patients responsible for local outbreaks, "we see spread to the towns north of Jiayuguan. Hundreds more infected. Same rapid incubation."
    "Mortality rate?" Haldane asked.
    "The early figures suggest roughly twenty-five percent" Streicher ran a hand through his thick blond hair. "Appar . ently, the young and the healthy are worst affected."
    "Oh ..." Haldane muttered. "That sounds familiar."
    Jean Nantal read the recognition on Haldane's face. "Ah, yes. We've been wondering about that, too. Maybe the Spanish Flu has come back to visit, NON?" Nantal grinned in his disarming way. "It's a bit premature to know."
    "The first case was documented four days ago in Jiayuguan City," Streicher said. "According to local authorities they've only had a handful of cases in the city itself, but it is early."
    "Very." Haldane nodded. "And the hospitals?"
    "Coping quite well." Nantal clasped his hands and shook them in a victorious gesture.