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FROM THE AUTHOR
Thanks so much for reading.
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A note on accuracy:
An error I made on purpose: the FBI does have its own disease investigation experts for bioterrorist events. I forced Glenn into that role because, obviously, he’s the hero of my book and he needed to continue to be the hero in Part III, but that’s not how it would really work. Forgive me for this bit of artistic license.
What I know to be true and is a matter of public record are the broad strokes: There are few pathogens that frighten epidemiologists more than H5N1 highly pathogenic avian flu, which currently you can only catch directly from infected birds. It has a 30% survival rate, but a natural mutation could lower that tomorrow. The press usually ignores it in favor of “scary disease of the month” reporting, but it really is the one to fret about, as is influenza overall.
In 2014, a team of scientists in Rotterdam manipulated this virus so it can transmit from human to human—or ferret to ferret, but the principle is the same—and publication of their findings did provide something of a roadmap for terrorists and, as a result, triggered quite a debate among researchers about both the experiments and the publication of results. Also true: a half a year is required to produce vaccines for a new flu, and in the countries where most of my readers reside, there isn’t the manufacturing capacity to produce vaccines for even half the population at one time—more like 30% of the population, in some cases.
Despite the terror H5N1 holds for epidemiologists, there are only three labs in the world currently manufacturing H5N1 vaccines. When/if England leaves the EU, they’ll lose access to the only European source, manufactured in France.
Most nations have a web page about the flu that tells you about current outbreaks and what you should do to stay safe from influenza. In the U.S., that’s flu.gov, where you can also download the national strategy for responding to a flu pandemic as a PDF file. It may be a comfort to you that there is one; it may also be disturbing that it’s so terribly vague.