Two days had passed since Julia Zhong and her team from the CDC had collected samples and returned to Atlanta. Lee Moses was growing impatient, even though he’d been warned it would be a few days before the lab results were in. It was mid-afternoon when his phone rang.
“Hello, Lee. It’s Julia Zhong from the Centers for Disease Control. We have the lab results and I wanted to call you right away as promised.”
“Thank you,” Lee replied. “What did you find?”
“Good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?”
“We believe we’ve identified the pathogen,” Julia explained. “Cultures from blood samples show a common pathogen, a virus very similar to common mumps.”
“But if these young men were vaccinated for the mumps and other childhood diseases, why did they get sick?”
“That’s the bad news. I said the pathogen is similar to common mumps, but not identical. That’s most likely why the vaccine had no, or only a negligible, effect at halting the infection. However, this virus shows no indication of being deadly. I think the worst case is that anyone who contracts this rare strain will be very uncomfortable until the virus runs its course. Although it’s too early to tell, we do have concerns that in post-pubescent males, permanent sterility may be a side effect.”
“That’s a pretty severe side effect,” Lee observed.
“I agree, but without more studies spanning months to years, we can only speculate. However, given the similarity to mumps, it would not be unexpected. I’d like to recommend follow-up studies of the patients, if they are willing to participate. I’m sure I can secure funding. If you agree, I’ll talk to my boss.”
“Yes, I’ll speak to all the patients myself. This will be a difficult message. My people are proud, and they distrust the American government. But I will do my best.”
“I know you will, Lee. Thank you.”
“What about the water samples?”
“A complete bust. We didn’t find the pathogen in even a single sample.”
“Nothing?”
“I’m afraid so. At this time, we don’t know the source of the outbreak, what we call ground zero. For all we know, it could be a natural mutation of the common form of the virus. That happens with most viruses. The influenza virus is perhaps the best-known example. It mutates, sometimes dramatically, every year and keeps us guessing as to how to formulate the flu vaccine.”
“Did you test any Cascade Aqua Natural bottled water? Peter Savage seemed concerned that could be the source.”
“Yes, we did. Fortunately, that brand of water was on the shelf of several stores in Warm Springs, so they were acquired and tested. All came back negative. However, and this is important, none of the bottles we found match the lot number of what was donated to the tribal council. At least, none matched the lot number on the empty bottles found at the clinic.”
“Wouldn’t it make sense to initiate a recall?”
“A recall on what? We couldn’t find any bottles matching the suspect lot number, and the bottles we did test all came back negative. We can’t recommend a product recall just because someone says they suspect contamination. The monetary damage can be significant.”
“I see,” Lee said. But clearly, he didn’t.
“I understand your concern, Lee. My advice—and this is strictly off the record—mobilize volunteers and canvass every store or other outlet that might have Cascade Aqua bottled water. Check their stock, and if you find any bottles with lot numbers matching what was donated to the council, buy them and don’t let anyone drink the water. Send what you have to my attention, and we’ll take it from there.”
Although Julia couldn’t see it, Lee was nodding. “I like your idea. Warm Springs is a small community, and the people are close. We will do this.”
“Good luck, and please keep me in the loop. But if you want to know my gut feeling, this is a freak mutation, nothing more.”
“If that is true, then this could happen again.”