"They've been doing better so far than with the SARS outbreak. No documented spread of the infection within hospitals. You see, Noah? There is a silver lining."
Not much of one, Haldane thought, but he nodded without comment.
Nantal turned to Yuen. "Milly, can you share a little background on the microbiology?"
Yuen shuffled through her notes. Though she wasn't reading them, she kept her eyes fixed on the pages as she spoke. "We've only had the blood samples for under a week, but the bacterial and viral cultures are negative thus far. We're running standard phenotypical and molecular viral diagnostics. We have run PCR, polymerase chain reaction, to every common viral family ... so far nothing conclusive."
Haldane picked up on her hesitancy. "What, Milly?" he asked.
Yuen looked up from the papers and caught Haldane's gaze. "It's not hard science or anything, but some of the RNA probes were weakly positive for influenza."
"So it's a strain of the flu?" Haldane asked.
"We can't say that," Yuen said and dropped her eyes to her notes again. "All we're testing for is viral DNA and RNA. The source patients might have all been exposed to an influenza outbreak ten years ago, and we're just seeing the remnants of the dead virus in their blood."
"No causality." Haldane nodded. "I understand, but what does your gut say, Milly? Is this the newest strain of the flut'
"No," Yuen said, but then her voice wavered. "I can't say for sure, but it's more like this microbe cross-reacts with the influenza on testing."
"Close but no cigar, huh?" Haldane said.
Yuen nodded enthusiastically. "That's my hypothesis. This isn't any known influenza A or B, but a closely related virus. Probably one we've never seen."
Haldane wasn't so sure. He leaned back in his chair and looked over at Nantal. "What do the Chinese expect from us?"
"Noah, they only want what every government that comes to us wants." Nantal held his arms wide open in front of him and smiled. "To find the cause and wipe out the disease."
"Right," McLeod said. "And do it yesterday. And let them take the bloody credit."
"They can keep the credit," Haldane said. "This bug sounds a bit too familiar. Short incubation. Related to influenza. Hemorrhagic pneumonia. Targeting the young and the healthy .. "He paused and caught the eye of each of his colleagues in turn. "As you know the Spanish Flu--a form of Swine Flu--disappeared in 1919 just as quickly as it came. They've only ever found remnants of the actual virus. Thus, only part of the virus's genome has ever been sequenced. We wouldn't recognize it for sure if it had resurfaced."
"Ah, Noah, it's early to make that leap," Nantal said.
"Yeah?" Haldane said. "But if it is the Spanish Flu, or some descendent of the same, it would be catastrophic to overlook the possibility."
"Understood." Nantal nodded. "But you know the rules, my friend. Until we isolate a pathogen, we only refer to it by the syndrome it produces."
"Which is?"
"'Acute Respiratory Collapse Syndrome."' Nantal pointed proudly to Yuen. "We have Milly to thank for the acronym. ARCS."
The term sounded to Haldane as innocuous as the other viral acronyms, like SARS and AIDS, which had surfaced in the past few decades. But hearing it spoken aloud sent a chill through him as if he had just stepped out into the cool Geneva air.
He wondered, grimly, if ARCS was going to make the world forget about all other viruses.
CHAPTER 5
GEORGETOWN WASHINGTON, D.C,
With Peter's possessions gone, their spacious three-bedroom condo felt empty to Gwen Savard. Not in a heartsick, if-only-we-had-one-more-chance way. Just barren. Peter had wanted to divide the furniture equally, but Gwen had insisted he take most of it. Now she regretted it. Guilt, she realized in retrospect, was not a helpful emotion when it came to dividing assets.
What did she have to feel guilty about? she wondered. She hadn't been unfaithful. She had never treated him with malice or cruelty. She had cooked her
Not much of one, Haldane thought, but he nodded without comment.
Nantal turned to Yuen. "Milly, can you share a little background on the microbiology?"
Yuen shuffled through her notes. Though she wasn't reading them, she kept her eyes fixed on the pages as she spoke. "We've only had the blood samples for under a week, but the bacterial and viral cultures are negative thus far. We're running standard phenotypical and molecular viral diagnostics. We have run PCR, polymerase chain reaction, to every common viral family ... so far nothing conclusive."
Haldane picked up on her hesitancy. "What, Milly?" he asked.
Yuen looked up from the papers and caught Haldane's gaze. "It's not hard science or anything, but some of the RNA probes were weakly positive for influenza."
"So it's a strain of the flu?" Haldane asked.
"We can't say that," Yuen said and dropped her eyes to her notes again. "All we're testing for is viral DNA and RNA. The source patients might have all been exposed to an influenza outbreak ten years ago, and we're just seeing the remnants of the dead virus in their blood."
"No causality." Haldane nodded. "I understand, but what does your gut say, Milly? Is this the newest strain of the flut'
"No," Yuen said, but then her voice wavered. "I can't say for sure, but it's more like this microbe cross-reacts with the influenza on testing."
"Close but no cigar, huh?" Haldane said.
Yuen nodded enthusiastically. "That's my hypothesis. This isn't any known influenza A or B, but a closely related virus. Probably one we've never seen."
Haldane wasn't so sure. He leaned back in his chair and looked over at Nantal. "What do the Chinese expect from us?"
"Noah, they only want what every government that comes to us wants." Nantal held his arms wide open in front of him and smiled. "To find the cause and wipe out the disease."
"Right," McLeod said. "And do it yesterday. And let them take the bloody credit."
"They can keep the credit," Haldane said. "This bug sounds a bit too familiar. Short incubation. Related to influenza. Hemorrhagic pneumonia. Targeting the young and the healthy .. "He paused and caught the eye of each of his colleagues in turn. "As you know the Spanish Flu--a form of Swine Flu--disappeared in 1919 just as quickly as it came. They've only ever found remnants of the actual virus. Thus, only part of the virus's genome has ever been sequenced. We wouldn't recognize it for sure if it had resurfaced."
"Ah, Noah, it's early to make that leap," Nantal said.
"Yeah?" Haldane said. "But if it is the Spanish Flu, or some descendent of the same, it would be catastrophic to overlook the possibility."
"Understood." Nantal nodded. "But you know the rules, my friend. Until we isolate a pathogen, we only refer to it by the syndrome it produces."
"Which is?"
"'Acute Respiratory Collapse Syndrome."' Nantal pointed proudly to Yuen. "We have Milly to thank for the acronym. ARCS."
The term sounded to Haldane as innocuous as the other viral acronyms, like SARS and AIDS, which had surfaced in the past few decades. But hearing it spoken aloud sent a chill through him as if he had just stepped out into the cool Geneva air.
He wondered, grimly, if ARCS was going to make the world forget about all other viruses.
CHAPTER 5
GEORGETOWN WASHINGTON, D.C,
With Peter's possessions gone, their spacious three-bedroom condo felt empty to Gwen Savard. Not in a heartsick, if-only-we-had-one-more-chance way. Just barren. Peter had wanted to divide the furniture equally, but Gwen had insisted he take most of it. Now she regretted it. Guilt, she realized in retrospect, was not a helpful emotion when it came to dividing assets.
What did she have to feel guilty about? she wondered. She hadn't been unfaithful. She had never treated him with malice or cruelty. She had cooked her
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