Chapter 992 Still in Hawaii (2)
"I remember that according to the official statement, there are only two places in the world where smallpox virus samples are stored, right?" Jack looked at Max.
Max still maintains a paralyzed face. From a psychological point of view, this is a self-protective behavior of a sociophobic person, but his condition is much lighter than that of Chris.
“In the last century, the smallpox virus probably caused 300 to 500 million deaths. There is no specific cure for this virus after it infects the human body. Humanity relied on vaccines and isolation methods to finally eliminate this terrible virus.
The only places known to contain smallpox virus samples are the CDC headquarters in Atlanta and the Biological Research Center in Korsovo, Siberia, Russia.”
Although the world entered a Cold War script of bipolar struggle for hegemony after World War II, it was precisely because the two major powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, reached a compromise that smallpox became the first infectious disease to be eradicated in human history.
Humans are the only host of the smallpox virus, and its infection history can be traced back 3,000 years ago. Traces of smallpox pustules were found on the head of the mummy of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses V.
After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union began tit-for-tat confrontation in various fields, including the medical and health field.
After the implementation of the "Marshall Plan", the WHO (World Health Organization) was once completely controlled by Aramco. Assu, who was also a founding member, angrily announced that he would stop actual work in the organization.
This situation lasted for 10 years. From 1948 to 1958, WHO was almost unable to promote any global medical cooperation.
After President Maize and Johnson, who launched the Vietnam War, came to power respectively, the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union for hegemony entered the second stage. Americus happily stepped into the bottomless pit of the Vietnam War.
At this time, Asu also recovered from the heavy losses in World War II. The offensive and defensive momentum changed. Asu, who felt that he was doing well again, returned with the momentum of thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. WHO.
In the face of smallpox, the Sword of Damocles that hangs over human heads all the time, after some negotiations between the two major countries, WHO was responsible for the coordination, Ami provided funds, and Asu contributed to the production. vaccine.
From 1967 to 1977, after a full decade of work, 2 billion vaccines and scientifically rigorous implementation plans, the two giants of the Cold War worked together to eliminate the smallpox virus that was ravaging the world.
Due to some well-known reasons, Siris, who did not join the WHO until 1972, was excluded from this world cooperation from beginning to end, or was deliberately ignored.
Of course, Siris didn't care much about this at that time, because as early as 1961, Azhong had completely eliminated the smallpox virus in its territory by relying entirely on its own strength.
In this way, smallpox became the first infectious disease to be completely ended in human history. However, subsequent developments were a bit ugly. The WHO repeatedly asked Asu, America and the United States to destroy the last smallpox samples, but they failed fell on deaf ears.
After countless wrangling and negotiations, these two samples were eventually preserved and became one of the weights used by the two superpowers to deter each other in addition to nuclear weapons.
“The last recorded patient who died from the smallpox virus was Janet Parker. She was a British female medical imaging photographer who died in 1978. The cause was a laboratory virus. Leaked.
At that time, the WHO approved Henry Bedson of the University of Birmingham School of Medicine in the UK to retain and continue to study smallpox virus in his laboratory until the end of 1978.
On August 11, 1978, Janet, who lived above Bederson's laboratory, suddenly developed cold symptoms. Five days later, a rash appeared on her body. It was not until she became completely blind that she was sent to the isolation hospital.
After it was confirmed that she had smallpox, the British authorities began an investigation. Henry Bedson, who learned the news, realized that the virus must have leaked from his laboratory.
The scientist who devoted his life to studying the smallpox virus chose to commit suicide out of guilt. Janet died five days later. She is the last known human being to be infected with the smallpox virus and die at its hands. ”
Jack closed the laptop in his hand with a sigh, and read to everyone the information that Alice in New York had just sent him.
In less than half an hour, Time, his small meeting with "Five-O" was interrupted by several phone calls in a row. The governor of Hawaii called Danny again and made a bunch of cheap promises. He only asked them to find out before the matter completely escalated. The truth. Dana Moger in New York and David Rossi, who is now working on the case in Florida, also called Jack respectively.
After confirming that someone's injury does not affect their actions, they all hope that Jack can fully assist "Five-O" to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Rossi also conveyed the statements of some senior military personnel, who assured the FBI in a relatively obscure way that there were no biological laboratories storing smallpox viruses in the Hawaiian Islands.
Jack still believes in this, because the smallpox virus is a relatively stable double-stranded DNA virus, and only two subspecies have emerged after raging in human society for thousands of years.
Compared with some RNA viruses that mutate frequently, resulting in extremely poor vaccine efficacy, smallpox seems to have a very high fatality rate, and its half-month incubation period is very conducive to spread, but it is not a biochemical weapon The first choice, the vaccine can effectively isolate its transmission route.
The main reason why it has attracted the attention of all parties now is that smallpox has such a big reputation. Once spread, it will really damage the face of the country.
After all, there are only two places in the world where virus samples are stored. It is obviously easier for the public to cast doubt on Atlanta than to believe that the virus leaked from Siberia and spread to Hawaii.
"The CDC's laboratory in Atlanta just checked the virus samples stored in liquid nitrogen and confirmed that they were not switched. Is it possible that he was infected while serving in Iraq?"
Kono looked at Max, but the latter immediately shook his head to deny her unreliable guess, "The incubation period of smallpox can't be that long. Judging from the symptoms shown on the corpse, from the time of infection to the development to the current situation, The situation will not last more than two weeks at most."
"So the first thing we need to find out is when and where Brian Palmer was infected with the smallpox virus, and at the same time investigate his behavior in the past two weeks. Where is that?" Danny tried to clear his mind.
Jack glanced at Max who was hesitant to speak. He knew that this social terrorist had something to say, but he didn't know how to take the initiative to say it, so he directly made a gesture of invitation to him.
"Well, I don't think he was infected through normal means." Max hesitated and expressed his opinion.
“What do you mean?” Except for Jack, who was half-empty, everyone else present was a pure scumbag in this regard, and they didn’t understand what he meant for a moment.
“The main transmission route of smallpox virus is contact infection, and it is direct contact. Although there is a certain chance of infection through virus-containing clothing and droplets during conversation, that is, aerosols, generally speaking, it is contagious. The rate is lower.
These are normal ways, and what I found is"
Max bowed his head and greeted Kono who was standing in front of the computer, "Can I use the computer?"
Kono was a little overwhelmed by his serious look and took two steps back to step aside. Location, "Of course, please do so."
Max selected one of the photos he took on the computer to show it to everyone, "Although I only briefly checked his condition , but noticed this special scar."
He zoomed in on the photo, and a piece of ulcerated skin appeared in front of everyone. "Pay attention to the location of this scab. Although it is a little blurry, I can confirm it. This is a pinhole."
Danny covered his forehead and glanced at the photo before quickly looking away, "You mean, the virus was probably injected into his body?"
"Sounds like this is a good thing?" Cheng Hao looked at Max and then at Jack, and found that both of them had strange expressions.
"If it is a single source of infection, the CDC only needs to control and isolate the people who have been in contact with him." Jack sighed and answered in an evasive manner.
(End of this chapter)