Chapter 993 Still in Hawaii (3)
There is no way, there are some things that cannot be considered carefully. The only host of the smallpox virus is humans. Other mammals such as cattle and monkeys can also be infected with viruses similar to smallpox. But the types are actually not the same.
The WHO did not announce the extinction of smallpox casually. Although there was a lot of political and bureaucratic wrangling involved, the statistical method was relatively scientific and rational.
For more than half a century, WHO has maintained strict monitoring of major infectious diseases around the world and confirmed that there have been no new cases of smallpox infection.
This point can be said to be beyond doubt. Smallpox is different from infectious diseases such as malaria. The signs of infection are very obvious, and so are the sequelae.
Even if someone was lucky enough to escape a small outbreak of smallpox, the recovery would leave a hideous pockmark on their face.
Then the question is, why did the smallpox virus, which had disappeared from human society for more than half a century, suddenly appear in Hawaii? "Human" factors seem to be the biggest possibility.
Compared to the high nervousness of others, relatively "professional" people like Jack and Max are much calmer.
The most important reason why smallpox can be "easily" eliminated by humans is that the virus itself is too stable in structure and difficult to mutate, thereby escaping the effective control of vaccines.
Even if someone "improves" the smallpox virus and releases it as a biochemical weapon in Hawaii, injecting it into the human body alone to achieve the purpose of infection is still an extremely inefficient method.
Contaminate water sources and food, and release aerosolized gases in central air-conditioning ducts. As someone who has dealt with hemorrhagic fever, anthrax, and tetrodotoxin, Jack can design whatever he thinks about.
There are dozens of unique communication methods, and there is no need to worry about attracting official attention in advance.
And according to the preliminary test results of the CDC, no signs of being "modified" were found in this virus, which means that the pathogen extracted from Brian Palmer's body was the "original ecological”.
The "original" smallpox virus is easier to deal with. Although smallpox has long been extinct, the smallpox vaccine has never been discontinued because for some ulterior reasons, the United States has been giving it to soldiers in the army. Various vaccinations including smallpox were administered.
This means that even if the situation develops to the worst extent, the authorities will not use overly violent means to eliminate the virus, such as releasing some mass destruction weapons on the island, as shown in some film and television works. sexual weapons and then later declared a massive wildfire.
Even if the virus does spread on the island, the CDC can quickly mobilize a large amount of vaccine reserves and give everyone on the island a shot to control the situation.
Soon another piece of news came from the CDC that could make people breathe a sigh of relief. Based on the data they urgently obtained from various hospitals on the island and compared it, it was confirmed that there have been no abnormal group fever symptoms recently. It said it would continue to monitor.
"That means we still have time, and we don't have to worry about the safety of our families for the time being." Jack gave everyone reassurance.
That being said, it is still urgent to find out the source of the virus as soon as possible. Danny quickly arranged everyone's tasks.
As a forensic examiner, Max has sent the blood and tissue samples collected from the corpse to the military's P4 level biological laboratory, and he will soon go to the laboratory for pathological examination.
His first priority was to confirm whether there were any other drug residues in the deceased's body. After all, the pinhole might have been left by the injected virus, but it might also have been caused by the injected drug.
Cheng Hao went to HPD to coordinate the police force and cooperated with the CDC to conduct a dragnet investigation to find possible potential infections.
In Jack's previous life, Hawaii was the only one among the 50 states in the United States that did not have a state police establishment. In this world, although "Five-O" has the name of a state police, in essence It is still a task force specially appointed by the governor. Whether it is said that they are the prototype of the future Hawaii State Police, or a special establishment similar to the Texas Rangers, in actual tasks, they are as inseparable from the support of the local police departments as the FBI.
Kono stayed at the base to be in charge of liaison, focusing on processing the information reported by all parties. Finally, it was Danny and Jack, who got into the Camaro and went straight to the Hawaii Medical Center.
Located on the island of Oahu, this hospital is the largest hospital in Hawaii and consists of a 7-story main building and two smaller annex buildings.
The wife of the deceased Brian Palmer and her two children aged 3 and 5 are currently being quarantined in a separate ward of more than 40 square meters in the medical center.
The young couple obviously didn’t know what was going on. They were very obediently playing with toys on the small table in the ward. Brian Palmer’s wife looked to be in her early 30s. , seeing the arrival of the two of them, cried like pear blossoms with rain.
The isolation ward is equipped with a direct intercom similar to that used in prison reception rooms. Danny tried his best to lower his voice and explained the purpose of their visit at a volume that would not alarm the two children.
Brian Palmer’s wife tried hard to control her emotions and told them what happened tonight,
"The doctors don't think we are infected, but to be safe, they want me and the children to stay in the hospital for observation for at least a week.
I and the children were really frightened at the time, but I didn't expect Brian to get sick. It was so serious that he probably just wanted to ask me for help, but I blocked him out."
Danny put his hands on his chest and comforted him in a very serious tone, "Ms. Palmer, listen to me, you made a 100% right choice, do you understand?
It was precisely because you did not open the door at that time that you and your two children were protected from infection. "
After some comfort, the woman stopped crying, and Danny quickly asked, "Madam, we hope you can help the police sort out Brian's whereabouts in the past few weeks."
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"Uh" the woman looked tangled, "I guess there's nothing I can do about it."
She looked back at her children and then continued, "We were separated before, Brian probably He moved out three months ago.
After returning from Iraq, he suffered from PTSD, and we had a lot of conflicts. Later, in order not to affect our two children, he took the initiative. Proposed to move out of our house temporarily."
Sounding like a familiar story, Danny and Jack looked at each other and then asked, "Okay, so where has he been living since he separated from you? "
"Langhua Hotel." The woman's expression was very sentimental, and it was obvious that she still had feelings for her husband.
"He was actually doing quite well during this period. He worked hard to stop drinking, came back to visit his children regularly, and even started planning to find a job. I thought we would soon be able to return to the life we had before."
< br>Seeing how she hesitated to speak, Danny took the initiative to help her with a but, "So, what happened after that?"
The woman's expression became a little confused, "I don't know, About two weeks ago, he suddenly disappeared from the world. He missed the couples counseling session with the family counselor and turned off his mobile phone. I thought he had retreated into the dark corner where he once was."
"What. What do you mean by dark corner?" Danny didn't understand.
(End of this chapter)