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Authors: Carla Buckley
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on maternity leave.
“Dr. Brooks.” Hank had his jacket open now, showing the gun holstered at his hip. A subconscious move on Hank’s part, or was he making a point? Peter looked into the security guard’s small eyes. The man was afraid. Fear could make people do stupid things.
“Fine.” Peter picked up the entire pile and shoved it into his briefcase. The weathered leather bulged with the effort of containing it all.
Hank moved aside to let him out, reached back and drew the door shut. A jangle of keys and the door was firmly locked.
Struggling under the weight of two boxes and the overstuffed briefcase on top, he made his way down the corridor. Shazia stood waiting for him, under the weight of her own box and papers. They came to a stop by the elevator. She frowned at the numbers above them, watching them glow in sequence.
“You should call your family as soon as you get settled.”
“Yes.” She shifted the box in her arms. “Do you think the H5 we’ve been working with made the jump to human form?”
“Unlikely. But even if it had, I wouldn’t be concerned. We took precautions.”
“Right.”
There was something in her tone. “Shazia.”
She looked at him.
“You were careful, weren’t you?”
The elevator door wheezed open, and she stepped inside. “Yes,” she said. “Of course.”
“Can you tell our listeners why the scientific community is particularly worried about what’s going on?”
“Certainly. What I think has everyone concerned is the apparent emergence of a virus that seems to have made the genetic leap from avian to human form. Of course, this may be a short-lived phenomenon. H5N1 is constantly mutating, and this may be one brief stage in its life span. It could change once again and evolve into a virus that is no longer as harmful to humans.”
“But you don’t think so.”
“I think a more likely scenario would be that the virus becomes so successful at propagating that it settles into this more deadly version for a long time.”
“Resulting in more human casualties.”
“Unfortunately, yes. The fatality rate of this virus is much greater than the one we saw in 1918 that killed twenty percent of the people it afflicted. We are currently seeing fatality rates approaching fifty percent.”
“That’s hard to imagine.”
“Yes. A couple of factors play into this. First, H5 bypasses nasal passages in favor of digging deep into the human lung, where it can inflict more damage.”
“Which explains the increased incidence of pneumonia.”
“Partially. And then there’s the length of illness. Even though the period of contagion before onset of symptoms is shrinking to twenty-four hours, H5 is living an average of eight days in its human host. This is a significant length of time. The longer the virus can keep its host alive, the more time it has to propagate and infect another host. And then there’s the speed at which it’s traveling. H5 is beginning to spread with the same rapidity that hallmarked the 1918 virus.”
“Which circled the globe in months.”
“Yes. Although in today’s world, I think a more accurate estimate might be more like weeks. Conventional wisdom says the virus could reach the United States in the length of time it takes a plane to cross the Atlantic.”
“So we’re talking hours?”
“That’s right. Six hours. The virus could already be here.”
The Frank Sherman Hour,
WBBS
EIGHT
M ICHELE SAYS THEY’VE CANCELED THE WINTER Dance.” Kate sat at the kitchen table with her laptop opened in front of her. She frowned down at her cell phone.
“They’ll reschedule it.” Though probably not until the following year . Ann slid her arms through the sleeves of her coat. This was just the beginning. What about report cards, birthday parties, dental appointments?
“Get ice cream,” Maddie said. “And goldfish crackers.”
“I will.”
A car horn sounded. The television in the family room showed long lines of people standing in an
“Dr. Brooks.” Hank had his jacket open now, showing the gun holstered at his hip. A subconscious move on Hank’s part, or was he making a point? Peter looked into the security guard’s small eyes. The man was afraid. Fear could make people do stupid things.
“Fine.” Peter picked up the entire pile and shoved it into his briefcase. The weathered leather bulged with the effort of containing it all.
Hank moved aside to let him out, reached back and drew the door shut. A jangle of keys and the door was firmly locked.
Struggling under the weight of two boxes and the overstuffed briefcase on top, he made his way down the corridor. Shazia stood waiting for him, under the weight of her own box and papers. They came to a stop by the elevator. She frowned at the numbers above them, watching them glow in sequence.
“You should call your family as soon as you get settled.”
“Yes.” She shifted the box in her arms. “Do you think the H5 we’ve been working with made the jump to human form?”
“Unlikely. But even if it had, I wouldn’t be concerned. We took precautions.”
“Right.”
There was something in her tone. “Shazia.”
She looked at him.
“You were careful, weren’t you?”
The elevator door wheezed open, and she stepped inside. “Yes,” she said. “Of course.”
“Can you tell our listeners why the scientific community is particularly worried about what’s going on?”
“Certainly. What I think has everyone concerned is the apparent emergence of a virus that seems to have made the genetic leap from avian to human form. Of course, this may be a short-lived phenomenon. H5N1 is constantly mutating, and this may be one brief stage in its life span. It could change once again and evolve into a virus that is no longer as harmful to humans.”
“But you don’t think so.”
“I think a more likely scenario would be that the virus becomes so successful at propagating that it settles into this more deadly version for a long time.”
“Resulting in more human casualties.”
“Unfortunately, yes. The fatality rate of this virus is much greater than the one we saw in 1918 that killed twenty percent of the people it afflicted. We are currently seeing fatality rates approaching fifty percent.”
“That’s hard to imagine.”
“Yes. A couple of factors play into this. First, H5 bypasses nasal passages in favor of digging deep into the human lung, where it can inflict more damage.”
“Which explains the increased incidence of pneumonia.”
“Partially. And then there’s the length of illness. Even though the period of contagion before onset of symptoms is shrinking to twenty-four hours, H5 is living an average of eight days in its human host. This is a significant length of time. The longer the virus can keep its host alive, the more time it has to propagate and infect another host. And then there’s the speed at which it’s traveling. H5 is beginning to spread with the same rapidity that hallmarked the 1918 virus.”
“Which circled the globe in months.”
“Yes. Although in today’s world, I think a more accurate estimate might be more like weeks. Conventional wisdom says the virus could reach the United States in the length of time it takes a plane to cross the Atlantic.”
“So we’re talking hours?”
“That’s right. Six hours. The virus could already be here.”
The Frank Sherman Hour,
WBBS
EIGHT
M ICHELE SAYS THEY’VE CANCELED THE WINTER Dance.” Kate sat at the kitchen table with her laptop opened in front of her. She frowned down at her cell phone.
“They’ll reschedule it.” Though probably not until the following year . Ann slid her arms through the sleeves of her coat. This was just the beginning. What about report cards, birthday parties, dental appointments?
“Get ice cream,” Maddie said. “And goldfish crackers.”
“I will.”
A car horn sounded. The television in the family room showed long lines of people standing in an
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