The Perfect Pathogen by Mark Atkisson, David Kay

Downs just like your daughter
Hope and I know you have done such a great job with her. Please give my
grandson the same chances you give your daughter. My granddaughter will work
with you towards this goal. I have provided for him in my will, so there will
be adequate funding for him to support himself throughout his life.”
    “Will, of course I will,” Rob replied. “It is the
least I can do after all the help you have given me over the years. Consider it
done.”
    “Thank you Rob. This means much more than any
amount of money. I will die a happy man,” Will said with a broad smile.
    As Rob left the room, he wiped tears from his
eyes. What a class act Will is, Rob thought. Down-to-earth and dignified, right
to the last breath.

Chapter 11
     
     
    Dr. Brian White was the
Surgeon General’s first pick when the President asked him for someone to head
up an epidemiology task force. That task force would lead the U.S. Government’s
efforts in handling the necessary research to find the cause of the unfolding
epidemic that was now rapidly decimating the elderly population. An inwardly
shy, sensitive, bespectacled man in his late fifties, Dr. White, Director of
Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, was by far the foremost pathologist in the
United States. He was well-liked and well known for leading teams that
successfully untangled the pathology behind many previous disease outbreaks.
    After his meeting with the President and the
Surgeon General, Dr. White left The White House armed with a commission to lead
the pandemic research effort, drawing upon the full resources of the U.S.
Government and a clear mandate: find the killer and figure out how to eliminate
it.
    He rapidly mobilized his best colleagues from
around the world and his most promising graduate students at Johns Hopkins into
seven investigative teams, all linked into the CDC, the CIA, the Department of
Defense, and other Federal agencies equally tasked with addressing the
unfolding contagion. The seven action teams would coordinate four large regions
in the United States and three around the world, all reporting to Dr. White. In
White House briefings to the President in the days to follow, all would come to
know Dr. White and his seven teams as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
    In a worldwide pandemic like this, there would
already be a great deal of local research by every major hospital and pathology
lab - Coroners’ reports, death certificates, lab reports, medical charts, etc.
Data was there to be assembled, drawn from an impressive arsenal of tests and
procedures familiar to all pathologists and doctors: basic scientific testing
for infectious agents, antibody serology testing, PCR, culturing for every
infectious agent known to man -- bacterial, fungal, viral, parasite -- and
surveys for extremely rare diseases such as prions, polio, smallpox, etc. Information
on blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, interstitial fluid, sputum samples, and
biopsies of every major human tissue, molecular analysis of biological markers
in the individual’s genetic code, hormonal levels, immunoglobulins, and even
hair analysis on the deceased were gathered. Spectroscopy, Western blots, MRI
and CT scans, biopsy reports, biochemical tests, toxicology testing, genetic
testing, food chain surveys, and even forensic autopsy parameters were also
undertaken.
    Indeed, no conventional medical research stone was
left unturned. Even veterinarians, ornithologists, entomologists, and others
were included from around the world, all looking for a connection between the
outbreak and elderly humans. Dr. White’s task was to synthesize the clinical data,
coordinate world-wide efforts, and look for the unconventional stones to look
under as well. Data poured in from around the globe – Germany, the United
Kingdom, Brazil, China, Russia, India, Japan, Australia, Thailand, and
Singapore, just to mention a few. Every analytical tool and instrument was
mobilized in this all-hands on deck,