Chapter 30. Hot Zone
Present day. Somewhere over Africa.
Seated on benches in the back of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook were Jacob Roessler, the dark-haired Italian-looking C.D.C. scientist, who was wearing khaki shorts, tennis shoes, and a plain brown T-shirt; Captain Roger Tsung, the tall and thin Asian scientist from USAMRIID, who was wearing green combat fatigues and Army boots; Bjorn Jendel, the Swedish, long-haired, blonde Senior Level 4 Director of Research at the C.D.C., who was wearing a short-sleeved button-down white Oxford and khaki shorts; Murielle Winston, who wore jean shorts, an olive green tank top, and dark green CDC ballcap; and Jimmy Pond, the muscular black C.I.A. agent who was leader of this Task Force, who was wearing black Adidas gym shorts and a bright royal blue soccer jersey. Royal blue was the color of the Tanzanian national football team. At each person's feet was a duffel bag of gear, including an orange RACAL Field Suit. The thundering reverberations from the Chinook's rotors made it difficult to hear, so the team members had to raise their voices when addressing each other.
"Doc," yelled Pond. "Tell me about this new bug. How easy is it to catch?"
Dr. Jendel disliked having to talk loudly, but he obliged. “Dr. Winston and Dr. Roessler here are our resident experts. Murielle, why don’t you answer that?”
The brainy investigator pushed back her wire-rim glasses on her nose and addressed the team. "This new strain is different from any other strain of Ebola we have seen. All other versions of Ebola were spread with bodily fluids like blood and saliva, or transmitted through sexual relations. But we believe this new version can spread through the air, much like the flu. If you have any kind of mask on, and you do not touch an infected person, you probably will not catch it. But we are not taking any chances. If we find a hot zone, we are going in with full suits."
"I understand it is not contagious for like six or seven days, is that right?" asked Pond.
"Our evidence on that is merely inferential,” said Winston. “We infer that from the fact that there have been no reported cases of the disease spreading at any of the places the chimp researchers went on their way home, but it did spread once their disease was full blown. But the best evidence we have right now is that is correct."
"My arm feels like a pin cushion from all those immunization shots I got. What were all those?" asked Pond.
"We had the shots, too. We have tried to immunize ourselves from diseases we know about in Africa, but we do not have a vaccine for Mackinac Ebola yet, unfortunately. But we have brought along bottles of AVI-6002 and AVI-6003. According to the minimal data we have, there is a good chance that these drugs can arrest the disease within the first two days of contracting it, but after that, no such luck."
"You ever been in a Hot Zone, Doc?"
"Yes," said Dr. Jendel. "When the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola hit Uganda in 2007, I was on the team that went into the Hot Zone. Entire villages ripped apart by this thing. It was like they were hit by an invisible bomb, but all the huts were still standing. We went in with just paper masks and rubber gloves and we were fine. Buggy Ebola--that's what we call the Bundibugyo strain--is not airborne. This new bug is like Buggy Godzilla. There is no scientist in the world who has ever walked into a Hot Zone with an airborne Ebola."
"Are you scared, Doc?"
"I am scared shitless, but as they say, that's why we get paid the big bucks."
Jacob Roessler laughed. He knew their salaries were incredibly modest.
"What about you other guys? Have you ever been in a Hot Zone?" asked Pond.
Roessler shook his head. "No, I have never walked into a Hot Zone in the field, but our C.D.C. Research Labs have Level 4 pathogens like Ebola, so our labs are Hot Zones. You talk about being scared. Last year, I was handling a slide under the slicer, and my hand slipped, the bit on the slicer went clean through my suit, and both layers of gloves, cutting my hand. I was absolutely terrified, but nothing happened. I had myself checked and I was fine."
Tsung nodded his head. He had never cut his suit or any part of his body. Tsung liked to pride himself on his precision. While the pathogens scared him, he knew that rigid adherence to protocol was his best line of defense. Tsung was a quiet person, and chose not to speak.
Roessler was equally interested in Pond. "So your name is James Pond and you're a spy. How many jokes have you gotten over your name?"
"Too many to count," said Pond. "And I don't ride around in underwater cars and kill super-villains with ray guns on tropical islands. Most of what we do is pretty routine stuff."
"Have you ever had to kill anybody?"
"Well of course," Pond laughed. "How do you think I got my 'Double-0' rating from Her Majesty?"
Roessler and Winston laughed at the joke, and Roessler decided not to press for a real answer.
"Where are we going once we hit the ground?" asked Winston.
"Ujiji. It is a coastal city along Lake Tangayika about ten miles south of Kigoma. Ujiji was the base camp for the Michigan primate researchers Professors Bill and Kelly Monahan. We are going to find their base camp and start from there. The woman also told one of our agents that they ate at a fish restaurant called the Ujiji Fish House. We will want to check that too. They probably got this disease from an animal. Chimpanzee is the best bet, but you never know."
"I have never heard of Ebola spreading from a fish," said Jendel.
"For that matter, I have never heard of it spreading from a chimpanzee," said Roessler. "Our most active hypothesis is that Ebola comes from the Egyptian fruit bat. I suppose it is possible that a bat bit a chimp. Since we know it is airborne, I suppose a sick chimp could have breathed on one of the researchers."
"Funny thing, though," said Agent Pond. "We asked Kelly Monahan about sick chimps, and she said all the chimps they interacted with were healthy, and they did not handle any chimpanzee cadavers. We also asked if any of the chimps bit them and she said no."
"Well, it's as good a place to start as any," said Tsung.
Just then, their helicopter pilot waved his arm, motioning to the men and to Murielle Winston that they would be landing soon. Just below them was a soccer field outside the city limits of Ujiji. The Chinook was heading down.
Their first stop in Ujiji was the Monahan base camp. The secluded camp was desolate. They looked around and could find nothing of scientific value. Agent Pond bribed some locals to trap some chimpanzees. For the next four days, the scientists anesthetized chimpanzees and then tested their blood for the Mackinac Ebola virus. All of the tests came back negative. This, of course, told them nothing. There were thousands of chimpanzees in the mountains. Just because these forty came back negative did not mean that there wasn't a carrier monkey running around with the virus. The scientists also looked for any caves nearby the Ujiji camp where bats might be found and they could find none.
While the scientists continued testing chimpanzees, Jimmy Pond went to the Ujiji Fish House and was surprised to see that it had closed. Pond talked to some of the locals and learned that the owner of the fish house had suddenly disappeared. After dozens of interviews, Pond was finally able to find one citizen of Ujiji who knew where Sunny Temoha, the owner of the fish house, lived. As he approached the ramshackle wooden structure with blue-painted wall boards and the tin roof, and opened the front door a crack, Pond encountered an incredible stench. He had smelled that smell before. Swarms of flies circled around him. He shined his flashlight across the walls and finally onto the floor. There, in the middle of the room, was a grossly disfigured and decayed dead body. The dead eyes were completely blood red, staring out in a trance. Thick black vomit covered the floor. Pond immediately slammed the door closed and grabbed his radio.
"Unit 2 to Unit 1 over."
"This is Unit 1," said Roessler on the other end.
"We've got a live one."
"Where? In Ujiji, a few blocks from the fish house. Meet me at the fish house and I will take you over. Bring your suits. I think we have found our Hot Zone."
While he was waiting for the scientists to arrive, Pond found the first man who had steered him to the Fish House owner's house. He spoke to him in Swahili. The man was skinny and old, with a face full of wrinkles and a friendly smile.
"Was Sunny the only one who worked at the Fish House?" asked Pond. "Did he have employees?"
"No, only Sunny."
"Where did Sunny get his fish from?"
"From Lake Tanganyika."
"OK, sure, but the lake is very big. Where specifically did the fishermen get the fish?"
"Kasiha."
"Kasiha? OK." Pond took out his map and studied it. He found a small town called Kasiha on Lake Tanganyika.
"Here?"
"Yes," said the old man, smiling.
"Who did he buy the fish from?"
"There are many fishermen. Whoever had the best price."
Pond calculated the distance. He would need a Jeep. He radioed the CIA operatives from the Egypt Field Office who had already made it to Ujiji. He asked them to pick up the scientists and bring two Jeeps. He also told them to bring some gasoline, matches, and shovels. They said they would be there within the hour.
Pond turned back to the old man.
"Did Sunny cook all the fish all the way through? Or did he serve some fish raw?"
"No raw. Cooked."
OK. That was weird. Pond was not an expert on tropical viruses, but he thought that if a fish had the virus, cooking the fish over a grill would kill the virus. Murielle Winston had educated Pond about about "ciguatera," a food borne illness caused from eating certain reef fishes, such as grouper caught in the warm waters of the Caribbean. Supposedly, one could contract ciguatera regardless of how well the fish was cooked. Maybe this virus was like that.
"Did Sunny have pets?"
"No pets."
"Did Sunny ever complain about getting bit by an animal?"
"No bite."
"Are there any bats in this area?"
"No bats."
When the scientists and the two Egyptian field agents arrived a half hour later, Jimmy Pond took them to Sunny Temoha's house. Roessler, Jendel, Winston, and Tsung suited up in their orange RACAL suits. Jendel did not seem as nervous as he should be. Roessler and Winston were very scared. Murielle Winston questioned herself about what she was doing here. Charlie and Teddy needed her at home. She did not need to get herself killed. Tsung was terrified but was keeping a cool exterior to the others. Jendel gave the team members one last pep talk.
"Now remember, there is no hurry. We have all the time in the world. Walk slowly. No sudden movements. The one way to cut your suit is if you act rashly. If you have a panic attack, and it happens, walk slowly out of the room. Obviously, this goes without saying, but do not, under any circumstances, take off your suit inside this house. Are we ready to proceed?"
Roessler's heart was beating fast as he breathed in slow measures through the suit's self-contained breathing apparatus. Like astronauts slowly jumping onto the moon's surface, the four scientists entered Temoha's house. They examined the body. All three were convinced the man had the Mackinac Ebola virus. They took blood, vomit, and tissue samples and sealed them in vials, then double and triple sealed them again in HAZMAT bags. They looked around the small house looking for any evidence of animals, including bats, and saw none. While Winston and Roessler continued taking samples, Tsung could not control his heart beat. He felt like he was in a coffin and dirt was being poured on top of him. His temperature skyrocketed. He could hear his own breathing. This was nothing like any of the labs he had ever been in. He had to get out of here. Panicked, Tsung quickly walked out the door and out into the street, where he took off his helmet and breathed huge doses of fresh air.
"You freak out in there?" asked Pond.
Tsung said nothing. He was embarrassed that he had to leave the house.
"C'mon, Tsung, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. You don't see me goin' in there, do you?"
Tsung sheepishly answered, "It was very hot in there. I thought I might throw up in my suit. I had to get out."
"Course you did, don't sweat it," said Pond.
Ten minutes later, the other scientists emerged. Jendel went to the two American agents from the Egyptian Field Office. "Burn it to the ground. Everything must be ash. And keep the fire contained so it doesn't spread. Can you do that?"
The field agents agreed and began digging trenches around the house and created a barrier so that the fire wouldn't spread. Then they took the gasoline cans and burned the house, with Sunny Temoha's body, to the ground. Villagers in Ujiji came out to watch the commotion and looked on with suspicion and fear, but said nothing.
Pond and the scientists took the second Jeep and headed towards the Kasiha pier. When they arrived, they saw men in colorful shirts loading fish out of boats, and men on the shore hawking their wares to prospective buyers. Pond went up to one of the men, who was wearing a Tanzanian football shirt just like his. After sharing pleasantries in Swahili about the football team, Pond asked him about the fish.
"Have you had any problem with food poisoning from the fish?"
"No, these are all Grade A quality fish, taken straight from the Lake. No food poisoning."
"You aware that a lady up in Ujiji got very sick from some of the fish caught here and died."
The fisherman was nervous now.
"Are you with the Fisheries Office?"
Pond thought for a moment. He might get more from the man if he thought Pond worked for the Tanzanian Government.
"No, TDH." That was the Tanzanian Department of Health.
"I don't sell to Ujiji. He sells to Ujiji." The fisherman pointed to another man on the pier who was wearing a bright red shirt and a red headband.
"What about you? You sell to Ujiji?" The man in the red shirt looked afraid.
"I only sell for a few days. I replace Elvis."
"Elvis?"
"Yes. Elvis and his brother Joseph. They sell to Ujiji."
"Well, where are they?"
"We have not seen them in weeks. Or their boys."
"Their boys?"
"Yes, they have two little boys who help them with fish."
"What are Elvis and Joseph's last names?"
"I don't know."
Jimmy Pond asked the other men on the pier and no one knew their last name. But one of the men knew where they lived, in a tiny village about five miles straight south of Kasiha. He showed them the road on the map.
"When is the last time you saw them?" he asked the man in the red shirt.
"Maybe two weeks ago. Joseph's boys, they get sick, and he has to take them. Then Elvis suddenly leaves. That's all I know."
Now we are getting somewhere, Pond thought. He thanked the men and then returned to the jeep.
"Village, five miles south of here, on this road here." He pointed to the map.
"Two fishermen have suddenly gone missing. Their boys were sick just before they left. And they sold fish to the Ujiji Fish House."
"Then that's where we need to go," said Jendel. Jendel gunned the Jeep, as gravel spun out and created a small dirt cloud. Jendel's fine blond hair blew in the breeze as he turned the Jeep onto the road towards the small village.