Bioterror! (an Ell Donsaii story #14)

by Laurence Dahners

  Abe said, “You’re right. Assign one of your bright young people here to generate a file with what we know for distribution. They should update and distribute it again on a daily basis.” Then, in an even more somber tone, he said, “We’re going to have to tell the world what we’re expecting. They need to know it’s a variant of smallpox so they can be prepared. Have someone else, someone with clinical acumen, come up with a set of treatment recommendations to distribute to clinicians everywhere in case we have an epidemic before we have enough vaccine. Supportive care. How serum from people who were exposed to the vaccinia type virus and made antibodies might be able to cure people with active disease. How we’re preparing both live and dead vaccinations, but that if we don’t get there in time, how they might be able to use pustules from patients with vaccinia infections to vaccinate the rest of the population. If everything goes to hell, they might even want to use variolation, they should at least know how to do it.”

  “Variolation?! Isn’t that where you take material from pustules on someone with active smallpox and use it to inoculate other people?!”

  “Yeah… And it’s way more dangerous than vaccination with vaccinia, but if there’s an epidemic raging and no one available with active vaccinia, it’s still a lot safer than catching smallpox the regular way.”

  “Oh my God…!”

  ***

  Homeland Security, Washington DC—Anonymous sources at Homeland Security have revealed that the bioterrorism panic sweeping the world is based on the fact that the pustular eruptions which have been occurring in Islamic countries have been confirmed to be due to a modified form of the vaccinia virus. The original vaccinia (cowpox) virus was used to immunize people against smallpox back when smallpox was a major health threat.

  Though no cases of smallpox have been reported as of yet, the concern is that an unknown Islamic terrorist group released modified vaccinia in Islamic countries and at mosques in countries with some Muslims in their population. The thought is that it was released with the intent that it would protect Muslims when a modified version of smallpox is released at some point in the near future.

  Islamic groups worldwide have joined together in condemning and repudiating the presumed splinter group that has embarked on such a horrific plan…

  Abe looked up at the sounds of argument out in the hall. He tried to return his attention to the document he’d been working on, but then closed his eyes as the argument approached his office. “Those rules, procedures, and certification standards were put forth for a reason, dammit!”

  With that John Arquette walked into Abe’s office without so much as a pause in the doorway. He was trailed by LaQua Kelso. “Abe? Are you aware of the fact that Dr. Kelso was about to begin vaccinations of our own personnel here at CD—with a live virus that hasn’t been fully tested! All indications are that it has a completely unacceptable risk profile!”

  Abe sighed as he addressed the excessively punctilious Arquette, “Yes, John, I’m aware. Have you given thought to why we’re proceeding without full testing?”

  “Abe! We set up those protocols for very good reasons and only after extensive discussions!”

  “John, we’ve weighed the risks versus the benefits. You’re correct, this vaccination’s significantly more dangerous than what we’d normally accept, but if it’s capable of ameliorating the effects of a biowarfare version of smallpox, we think that benefit outweighs the risk. Remember, you do not have to get vaccinated, nor does anyone else. We’re administering it entirely on a voluntary basis.”

  John stormed out of the office, calling behind him, “Well, I’m going to make sure those people are aware of the dangers before they volunteer to be your damned guinea pigs!”

  Abe sagged, then looked up at LaQua, “I’m doing my damnedest not to hope that supercilious bastard catches the real disease when it comes out.”

  “I would never have considered that possibility,” LaQua said with a wry grin as she turned to leave.

  ***

  Atlanta, Centers for Disease Control—The CDC announced today that it has sent the gene sequence of modified vaccinia virus to similar agencies in other countries around the world. This with the intent that those agencies could develop their own live virus vaccination programs using the virus if they wish. They warn, however, that vaccination with that virus carries significantly greater risks than other modern vaccination programs. They have also sent a gene sequence for a protein that might be used for relatively safe vaccinations. Unfortunately, this protein has not been confirmed to be able to prevent the expected bioterrorism version of smallpox. It must be pointed out that we do not know if the live virus version of vaccinia can prevent the new smallpox either, but it is presumed that, since the putative terrorists ostensibly released it in an effort to protect the Muslim world, that they presumably tested it to be sure that it did provide protection. In addition, the CDC is distributing a set of recommendations for supportive clinical treatment of unvaccinated persons with smallpox. They’re sending this to healthcare organizations and medical workers around the world. These recommendations are intended to attempt to ameliorate the presumably devastating effects of the disease in people who refuse or cannot get vaccinations.

  The world is waiting in dread for the other shoe to drop…

  Panic erupted on the streets of New York this morning when a woman dropped her bag of groceries and a white powder was noticed to have spilled out of it. The powder was swirling away from the bag on the breeze. In the subsequent frenzy and flight from the area, several people were injured, one being killed when she was apparently pushed in front of a moving vehicle. A hazmat team cleaned up the powder and it was subsequently determined to be ordinary white flour—as the woman had been proclaiming all along.

  Employers are reporting large numbers of unexpected and unauthorized absences…

  Runs on preserved foods and supplies of bottled water are plaguing local supermarkets…

  Home Depot disclosed today that they are nearly out of plastic sheeting, caulk, tape of all kinds, air filters…

  As happened to him occasionally, Adin was having second thoughts about what he’d done when the still unnamed man from Islam Akbar walked into Adin’s office without knocking.

  As the man always did—a constant source of irritation to Adin who felt like he should be accorded more respect.

  The man walked over to Adin’s window and lifted one of the blinds. He waved at the view, “We need to leave.”

  Adin looked out the small opening and saw the building next door swarming with people wearing Homeland Security jackets. It was the building where they’d stored all the ports that’d been destined to deliver the virus around the world before they were shut down. “What happened?” Adin asked.

  The man shrugged, “I assume they tracked the damned ports somehow. It doesn’t matter, I expect they’ll be checking this building soon enough. We need to get out of here.”

  “But…!” Adin didn’t finish the thought. He’d been going to complain that all their equipment would be lost, but they’d already made plenty of the virus. Shipments were on their way around the world. No one could stop his son’s revenge now. “Okay,” he said. He plucked a plastic bag off his desk and started for the door. Before he exited, he opened the bag and spilled the white powder in the hall…

  Bob boosted Naomi up so she could look into the one of the high windows of the building next to the one where Portal Technology had told them to look for the ports. The Portal Tech guys had certainly been right about that. Naomi’s team had found thousands and thousands of sequentially numbered ports in their original boxes in the building behind them. The ports had come from the banned list of ports sold in the months that the terrorists were thought to have been getting set up. Naomi’d been wondering how Portal Technology knew where the ports were until she’d looked in this window. What she saw inside told her she had bigger fish to fry, “This’s it!” she shouted. As agents looked her way and started to move t
oward her, she barked, “Don’t get any closer without protective gear!”

  ***

  Dallas, Texas—The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that it investigated several buildings in an industrial complex in Dallas this morning. How they were tipped off is not known, but apparently they found a laboratory set up to grow viruses and capable of growing them in large quantities. They believe that they will know whether it is the purported terrorist version of smallpox by sometime tomorrow…

  Zage climbed down off his chair and headed for the sink with his bowl. Ell said, “Um, I don’t think you should go into Dr. Barnes’ lab today…”

  He turned to give her a mildly dismayed look, “Why not?”

  Uncomfortably, she found she couldn’t look him in the eye, “I’m worried about…”

  When she ran down, he said, “The weaponized smallpox?”

  Ell nodded.

  “We don’t have to worry, though it’s probably going to be a big problem around the world.”

  “What do you mean, we don’t have to worry?!”

  “They sent me the viral genome last night. The antigens on its exterior are the same ones that’re on the vaccinia virus that was released a while back so they’ll be able to vaccinate people for it.”

  “Who sent you a genome for a bioweapon?!”

  He tilted his head, “CDC sent Gordito the genome. They wanted him to tell them which antigens it’d have.”

  “CDC’s trusting your algorithm for this?!”

  Zage nodded.

  “Why isn’t CDC doing this in-house? Why in the world would they be sending it out to a website that’s only been up a couple of months and is run by someone they don’t even know?”

  “Mom,” Zage said in a calming tone, even though he looked a little frustrated, “they sent it here because Gordito can do stuff no one else can. That’s why we’re having to charge so much to reduce traffic on the site so I’m not overwhelmed.”

  “Oh my God! They have no idea they’re talking to a five-year-old do they?”

  He gave her a surprised look, “Of course not. If they did,” he lifted an eyebrow and gave her a little grin, “they’d probably be skeptical of the results.”

  “Do you… do you know if they’re checking… or whatever they do… your results to make sure they’re correct?”

  “Lots of people have checked Gordito’s results. The consensus is that his results are astonishingly reliable.”

  “But… this one result is… incredibly important! What if you got this one wrong?”

  “I didn’t. Mom, I knew this one really mattered. I checked and rechecked. Besides, the guys that made these two viruses obviously intended the first one to be a vaccination for the second one. They almost certainly vaccinated their own workers with the first one to protect them while they were growing up the second one. Not only did I find that the two sets of antigens are the same, but all reasonable expectations were that they’d be the same.”

  “Who’s your contact there? I should call them and…”

  Zage had approached her by now, and at this point he climbed up into her lap. “And what Mom? Call into doubt some perfectly good and completely trustworthy information they’ve been relying on at a time when they’re deep into crisis mode?”

  She drew back and looked him deep in the eyes, “And you’re absolutely sure that your analysis of this genome was completely correct? Sure enough that we should trust the welfare of the world to your results?”

  He kept his eyes on hers as he nodded slowly and seriously. “Do you think we should all be vaccinated?”

  She looked off over his shoulder, “Yeah, but so far I understand they’re only vaccinating critical people and first responders. The rest of us have to wait until they have more vaccine available.”

  “I’m making some in the basement…” Zage said.

  He’d leaned back as if he expected an explosion and he got one. “Zage! You’re growing a virus in our basement?!”

  “I should’ve said, ‘in our basement laboratory.’ It’s not like I’m working in some dank corner, you know? Besides, I’m not actually growing a virus, I’m using that cell free protein synthesis set up you bought me to make a protein that has the antigens on it.”

  Ell snorted, “What kind of ‘protein synthesis set up’ did we buy you?”

  “It’s ‘cell free.’ Instead of using bacteria, or yeast, or mammalian mammary glands to manufacture your protein, you do CFPS in a test tube or vat. You have to have the components of a cell, or the so-called ‘cell machinery’ in the vat, then you supply chemicals to act as energy sources, amino acids to be chained together into the proteins, and the DNA template for the protein you want to generate. Since I’d already worked out the DNA sequence for a protein with all the antigens on it, including appropriate purification tags for the CDC, it felt crazy not to make some of our own in case they didn’t get us vaccinated before the epidemic struck.”

  Ell blinked, “And you’re sure it’s safe?”

  “It’s just a small protein. It’s easily sterilized by filtration.”

  Ell rolled her eyes, “I’ve heard that argument before. Something about a peptide you wanted to inject yourself with, just to help you lose weight.”

  A guilty look flashed over Zage’s face, “Um, yeah…”

  “Don’t you feel better about yourself now that you’ve proven you can lose the weight with diet and exercise?”

  He stared at her for a minute, then slowly shook his head, “Not really.”

  “Well, I am!”

  “So, you’re saying that even if this weaponized smallpox was out there killing almost a hundred percent of people, and the government hadn’t been able to vaccinate everybody, you’d rather die than get my vaccine?”

  She studied him for a moment, then said, “Well, you’ve got me there. In that situation, I’d be delighted that you’d made some vaccine in the basement.” She winked at him, “Did you make enough for the rest of the family?”

  “Oh. Yeah, it doesn’t take much. Our CFPS setup can make enough for a half million doses a day.”

  “It can?!”

  “Um, yeah. Each dose’s pretty small. Besides, when I picked out the set up, I decided it wasn’t all that much more to get an industrial version that could turn out proteins in quantity.”

  Ell snorted, “And, you just assumed, correctly it turns out, that I wouldn’t realize you were buying something far bigger than you needed?”

  Zage shrugged, turning his eyes downward as if he were embarrassed, but Ell didn’t think he really was. “How many have you made?”

  “Um, it’s been running for more than a week now.”

  “You’ve made over four million doses?!”

  “Well… there’d be some wastage. You couldn’t actually treat that many people.”

  “Why so many?!”

  “In case the government doesn’t make enough. If that happens, this could be really important for a whole lot of people. If they’re able to make plenty of vaccine, we’ll have wasted some money, but,” he gave her a searching look, “you said you had lots of money, right?”

  “Yeah,” she looked out the window, then patted him on the shoulder, “keep cranking it out kid.”

  ***

  Homeland Security, Washington DC— Francis Dorchester, spokeswoman at Homeland security, disclosed that the buildings the agency cordoned off in Dallas yesterday were, in fact, growing a modified version of smallpox. Upon early testing, this virus appears to be almost exactly the type of bio-weapon that the Centers for Disease Control were expecting—based on the vaccination virus which had been released earlier. It is too early yet to know whether the mortality rate of infection with this modified bio-terrorism version of the virus will be higher than the commonly quoted thirty percent mortality for wild-type smallpox.

  Only a few—apparently lower-level—personnel were captured at the site in Dallas, but upon questioning they have apparently confirmed that the despis
ed Islamic terrorist organization Islam Akbar was the driving force behind the industrial production of the virus. They claim that the mastermind who constructed the modified smallpox was a virologist by the name of Adin Farsq who was not captured in yesterday’s raid. Unfortunately, testing has also demonstrated that substantial amounts of white powder found in the hallways of the building were freeze-dried viral particles. The people who entered the building to investigate, as well as the personnel captured on site, are being quarantined in that building, though many experts have pointed out that it’s probably too little, too late.

  Though earlier reports suggested that the terrorists planned to release their bioweaponized smallpox through one centimeter ports, it appears that Portal Technology’s quick action in shutting down ports of that size sold over the past few months has successfully shut down that strategy. Thousands and thousands of those ports—all nonfunctional—were found at the site in Dallas. It is believed that Islam Akbar subsequently converted to a strategy of physical distribution of the virus. Homeland security is working with major shipping companies to try to determine addresses to which packages may have been distributed here in the United States and around the world. Anyone aware of other means by which the virus might have been distributed—for instance, anyone who was asked to take a package with them to another country—is asked to come forward immediately.

  Because it frequently takes 10-14 days for the first symptoms of smallpox to occur after exposure, this bio-weapon may already have been released against the public and people may already be infected and simply in the incubation phase. A UPS driver was just admitted and isolated in a hospital in Dallas with a pustular eruption compatible with smallpox. This man reports that he accidentally dropped a package he picked up from the Dallas facility in question nine days ago. Dallas County Health and Human Services is currently finding all of his contacts, as well as his contacts’ contacts and bringing them in for vaccination and isolation as well.