Chapter 535 Tetrodotoxin
Several CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) staff wearing biochemical protective suits were checking corpses in the red warning zone they had set up. Jack was observing the situation and only heard Han Na continued to ask.
"Is there any news from the hospital? What symptoms did the victims have?"
Danny Regan flipped over the notepad in his hand, "No news yet, the symptoms are varied. General paralysis, ataxia, dyspnea, arrhythmia, coma, and some mild symptoms, such as dizziness, numbness, and abdominal pain. "Is there a Japanese restaurant nearby?" Jack suddenly asked.
"What? Maybe, why do you ask this?" Danny Regan was a little surprised and didn't understand what he meant.
“Because these symptoms sound like ingesting some kind of neurotoxin, the most likely ingredients to ingest neurotoxins in New York are pufferfish and conch, which are usually only found in Japanese restaurants. Eat it."
As he spoke, Jack pulled up the red warning tape and walked in. Hannah quickly followed after seeing this.
"Hey! You can't come in!" A CDC staff member quickly stepped forward and tried to stop him.
Jack took out the rubber gloves and put them on, shrugging at him, "If it was radiation, and the dose was high enough to kill people, your Geiger counters would have been buzzing, and I would have been standing 20 kilometers away. Also dead.
If it is an airborne biological agent, this street must be littered with corpses. It won't just be someone randomly falling down while others are fine. So, are you still going to stop us? "
The CDC staff member spread his hands upon hearing this, "Although the basis for your judgment is not rigorous, I have already warned you. "
"So you think they have food poisoning? I don’t remember there being salad takeout in Japanese restaurants. "Danny Regan's style has always been very reckless. Seeing Jack and Hannah taking the lead, he also put on rubber gloves and followed in, and even rushed to flip through the food boxes scattered on the floor next to the corpse.
"salad? Jack frowned and squatted down to check the disposable food box and the plastic bag containing the food box with him. "It seems to have been poisoned. Can you confirm where you bought it?" ”
“It seems to be a Chinese restaurant. Danny Regan pulled out a small ticket and said, "Korean Deli seems to be just three blocks away." ”
Jack almost stopped being amused. He didn't know how crazy he would be if Bangzi heard this, "South Korea is not part of Siris, dear Danny."
"Isn't it?" Danny· Regen looked confused, "I remember we still have a garrison there, otherwise why do the Seris people hate us so much?"
Jack rolled his eyes in his heart. There were so many flaws in these words that he didn't even think about it. Fa Jie, forget it, there are still many Americans who regard their childhood as a part of Siris, or think they used to be a part.
There is no way to argue with this matter. After all, very few people in this country have taken history classes seriously, let alone geography.
“Want to take a ride in my new car?” Jack changed the topic and pointed to his Dodge Hellcat.
——
“I still like you to drive the original Saber class for field trips.” Danny Regan struggled to pull himself out of the cramped back seat of the Hellcat with the help of Jack.
The Hellcat, like the Firebird, has a two-door, four-seater layout. Although the back seat can accommodate people, the space is not large. An ordinary adult man has to struggle to get into the back seat. Curl your legs.
Although Danny Regan has a reckless temperament, he is very gentlemanly in daily life. He is too embarrassed to compete with Hannah for the passenger seat, so he can only forcefully stuff himself into the back seat.
In the short time he was on the road, the CDC had confirmed Jack's judgment that the culprit causing so many people to be poisoned was indeed tetrodotoxin.
Unfortunately, even if it is confirmed that it is tetrodotoxin, it is useless, because there is no antidote for that thing. There is not much the hospital can do, except perform gastric lavage on the admitted victims, inject atropine to promote metabolism, and put them on a ventilator to wait for their fate. .
Naloxone is also somewhat useful, but its effect is average. It mainly relies on the body's own metabolism. The magical thing about this thing is that there will be no sequelae after it is completely metabolized.
The full name of tetrodotoxin is aminoperhydroquinazoline compound, abbreviated as TTX. It is one of the most toxic neurotoxins found in nature. It can block nerve excitation with high selectivity and high affinity. The sodium ion channel on the membrane blocks nerve conduction, causing nerve paralysis and death.
In human terms, it can shut down the entire nervous system of the human body, forcing the brain to shut down all body functions while the brain is awake, causing breathing and heartbeat to gradually fail until death. To achieve this, For an effect, only a 0.5 mg dose is required.
The ancient Egyptians used this toxin to make fake death potions. In Voodoo, they also added it to herbal medicines to artificially create ghosts on beds to create "psychic" illusions. Jack couldn't figure out why someone would use TTX to poison. Although this thing is colorless and odorless and there is no specific medicine, it is quite difficult to extract or synthesize it artificially.
Of course, if we must say that drying and grinding the internal organs of wild and highly poisonous pufferfish into powder can be considered extraction, then that is another matter. For some wild and highly poisonous pufferfish species, all the internal organs of a single pufferfish can be extracted. Containing enough TTX to kill 20 adults.
When the three of them arrived at the Korean food store, the CDC, which had received the notification, had already sealed the door of the store. The customers who were sitting in the store were looking out the window in horror at this time. knew something was wrong.
"Is the salad served here separately?" Seeing a thin old Korean man arguing with the CDC people at the top of his lungs, Jack stepped forward and grabbed his arm and asked.
"Yes, we have a self-service salad bar. What happened?" The skinny old Korean man finally saw someone paying attention to him, as if he had seen a savior.
"Hannah, stay with him." Jack let go of him, motioned to the sweet girl to keep an eye on him, turned around and walked quickly towards the CDC people.
"Everyone who has eaten the salad will be given priority to induce vomiting. I hope it's not too late. In addition, we need to get the in-store surveillance."
Ten minutes later, the ambulances arrived one after another, and they brought Medical copper sulfate was used. After emergency vomiting was induced, all diners in the store were sent to the hospital for observation.
Jubal, who is sitting in the combat center, is coordinating the actions of all parties as usual. At this time, he is communicating with Jack through the communication channel, "Your judgment is very accurate. How did you do it?"
“If I said I was a super chef who is good at handling highly toxic ingredients, would you believe it?”
Jack's words made Jubal a little confused. Who knows that currently only the friends of BAU have been lucky enough to taste Jack's superb skills in this area, and of course Hannah is included.
“Whatever, a technical logistics officer is rushing to your place. He will process the surveillance video of that store at the scene. I am trying to find and notify everyone who ate in this store today. People who have had something, the CDC doctor said that this damn thing will delay the onset of symptoms.”
Jubal was a little too busy and spoke very fast.
"Yes, the onset may be delayed by 4-6 hours, and it will still be fatal. Leave it to us here. See you at the combat center later." Jack hung up the communication and turned to the man who was watched by Hannah. The old Korean shop owner walked over.
"Miss, there must be some misunderstanding here. My place is one of the cleanest places in the city. The smartest, best and most powerful people in this country all work nearby, and they are in my Dine in.
Our family has been here for 36 years and everyone in this community trusts us. "
The gray-haired Korean old shopkeeper was so anxious that tears came out.
"Maybe this is why you were targeted. Hannah murmured in a low voice, "Have you changed food suppliers recently?" Or have received intimidation or threats. "
"No, this is the center of the entire city. No gang even dares to collect protection fees here. "The old Korean shop owner wiped his tears and looked pitiful.
Jack looked at Danny Regan, who was listening, and the latter nodded, "This is the financial district, and the gang members nearby are usually very aggressive. Low profile. ”
Feeling that there would be nothing to gain from further questioning, Jack motioned for a waiter to come up and help their boss away. The three of them stood there and waited for a while, and soon a van parked on the side of the road.
An Indian guy jumped out of the car and hurried into the store with his laptop. He walked out after a while, holding a USB flash drive in his other hand and flashed it to the three of them, "Security video is done." "
Hannah got into the trunk and watched the video. Jack and Danny Regan each took a cigar and puffed on it on the roadside.
"It seems that someone has caused a huge trouble for us. The hospital just said that the death toll has risen to 10, and may continue to increase." Danny Regan said in a dull voice.
(End of this chapter)