With her hair pulled tightly back behind her head, Lopez wore a white blouse tucked into the midlength gray skirt of her most solemn suit. She sat at the podium beside Dr. Warmack, who looked authoritative and distinguished in navy. Sweating from the hot glow of spotlights and the adrenaline coursing through her system, the possible damage to her makeup from perspiration gave her one more worry she didn’t need. Because of the subject matter, she had expected her first-ever news conference to pique the media’s curiosity. But she never imagined such a zoo. The Department of Health’s small conference room spilled over with reporters and cameramen to the point where the aisles were plugged with people.

Lopez rubbed her hands against the table, trying in vain to dry them. Her heart slammed against her breastbone. Glancing over at Warmack, she tried to absorb some of his calm.

“Time to face the wolves, Lina,” he said quietly to her with a reassuring smile. Then he reached for the microphone in front of him and pulled it toward himself. “Good afternoon. I’m Dr. David Warmack with the Washington State Health Department.” He casually lifted his reading glasses off the table, perched them on the bridge of his nose, and began to read his statement, indifferent to the camera flashes and the coughs, whispers, and other noises that filled the electrified room.

“Five days ago, Seattle’s first case of multiresistant group-A streptococcus, now known as MRGAS, was admitted to Harborcenter Hospital. The patient succumbed two days later to pneumonia. The following day we received the lab confirmation of MRGAS in her respiratory secretions.”

His tone was unruffled but commanding, and when he paused to look up at the reporters, the last few whisperers fell quiet. “In the past five days, there has been a second death, four more confirmed cases, and six suspected cases of this new superbug. All positive cultures so far have come from two Seattle-area hospitals. All live cases, whether proven or suspected, are now under strict quarantine in a specifically designated hospital unit.”

Warmack stopped to sip from his water glass. “MRGAS is a mutated form of a common bacteria often responsible for mild infections such as tonsillitis, strep throat, and skin infections. On occasion, it can lead to more serious invasive infections such as we’ve seen in three patients.” He looked up from his notes. “So far, all antibiotics that normally treat streptococcal infections have failed to work against MRGAS.”

A collective agitated murmur broke out within the press corps.