“Dr. Kilburn thinks she’s an HIV-infected intravenous drug user who had her abscess drained in the ER,” he said. “She has since disappeared.”

“Wow,” Lopez said. “two drug addicts develop the same never-before-seen infection nearly simultaneously in two different countries. What are the chances?”

“You make it sound it like they happened on either side of the globe,” Amar countered. “How far apart are Vancouver and Seattle?”

“About a hundred and fifty miles,” Lopez said, acknowledging to herself that his point was valid. She glanced down and saw that Rosa was staring at her with her leash in her mouth and her tail wagging frantically. “Still—” she said quietly.

“Still what, Lina?”

“Have you considered the possibility that this is not a random outbreak?” she said, regretting her phrasing the moment it left her mouth.

“Of course, I’ve considered it!” he snapped. “I always consider it. But we’re talking about a new superbug here, not anthrax or smallpox or some other bioterrorism weapon.”

“Yes, but—”

Amar cut her off. “We know that the inner-city HIV population is the perfect breeding ground for spontaneous antibiotic resistance. It’s happened with vancomycin-resistant enterococcus and multiresistant tuberculosis. It only makes sense that this resistant group-A strep would appear among the users.”

“But in two places at once?” Lopez said.

“Those people are the most itinerant in the world,” he said with a trace of scorn. “If it’s taken hold in one group of urban addicts, you know how quickly it spreads to other cities. We’ve been through this before.”

Not like this, Lopez thought, but she sensed it was pointless to argue with her boss. Instead, she said, “I’d better talk to Dr. Kilburn. Maybe even go to Vancouver.”

“I was thinking the same,” Amar agreed. “The sooner we track the source, the sooner we can control the spread.” He sighed heavily. “Listen, Lina, I like Canadians. I do. But I have to warn you that they’re so damn obsessed with personal rights and freedoms that they make it very hard to track people.” He cleared his throat. “Just ask the homeland secretary.”

“Might be a little early to blame Canada for our outbreak,” Lopez said.

“I’m not blaming anyone. But we need to act quickly,” Amar said in a lowered voice. “If this superbug claims a foothold in the hospitals like the ones before it already have … .”

He didn’t finish the warning, nor did he need to. Since viewing that disastrous Culture and Sensitivity report, Lopez had trouble shedding the visions of hospital wards overrun with patients infected at the very place they had come to for help.

She looked down at Rosa whose tail was no longer wagging. The dog’s ears were pinned back and her head was cocked; she was the mirror image of her owner’s anxiety.

17 - Seattle, Washington

17

Seattle, Washington