Post by NPC on Sept 7, 2013 0:54:41 GMT -5
7 September 2013
It started with a few, as these things often do.
The strange thing about it was that there was no Patient Zero. One man appeared at a local hospital before the others did, but they were all found to have been infected at around the same time. Further investigation found that the initial patients had nothing to do with each other, and that none of them had been out of the country for months or years.
Their symptoms varied. Some of them had no outward signs of any trouble, but reported with some embarrassment that they had been having a lot of odd-smelling diarrhea. Others were rushed to the hospital to be treated for severe dehydration. Of those, some had developed sunken eyes and wrinkled skin, and some had not. And many showed no symptoms at all, and never went in for treatment. That was how it spread.
While cholera was a serious problem in many developing countries, it was rare in the States, and usually came from travelers returning home from one of those epidemic-seized countries. And the first few cases did not cause much alarm at all. It wasn't until hundreds of people started arriving at hospitals for triage or emergency care reported those symptoms. And as the disease spread, thousands and thousands more appeared at hospitals and clinics, hoping to be seen. What started in the depths of New York City spread throughout the Northeast in only a few hours, and then along the Eastern Seaboard and out west before nightfall. By the next morning, each of the contiguous States were seeing thousands of cases, and growing portions of Mexico and Canada were starting to feel the disease's effects as well. It had spread more quickly than even modern technology had allowed, and faster than modern technology could handle the influx of patients.
The scope of it was the biggest problem. No one was equipped to handle that many cases that suddenly. Hospitals, and in some cases entire towns, were quarantined by order of their mayors or governors. The Federal Emergency Management Agency rushed to help, meaning that the agency got tied up in red tape and was not able to respond in a timely manner. Other organizations also sprang into action, offering all the help they could, and soon found themselves spread thin, when their own operatives weren't succumbing to the disease themselves.
Another considerably large problem was death.
In a majority of cases, the patient died within hours. That wasn't unusual in cholera epidemics, but it did make dealing with the matter that much more difficult. It added an air of urgency to the proceedings, both within hospitals and among the patients' families. If nothing was done quickly enough, all hope for the patient was gone.
The disease struck very discriminately, but without any observable pattern. Specials and civilians alike were affected. Some who had had contact with eventual patients, and some who hadn't. People of all walks of life and vastly different genetics. Some fell ill quickly, some caught it slowly, most never caught it at all. But there just didn't seem to be any particular reason to it. It just happened.
And when it happened, it left lost lives and tattered families in its wake.
It started with a few, as these things often do.
The strange thing about it was that there was no Patient Zero. One man appeared at a local hospital before the others did, but they were all found to have been infected at around the same time. Further investigation found that the initial patients had nothing to do with each other, and that none of them had been out of the country for months or years.
Their symptoms varied. Some of them had no outward signs of any trouble, but reported with some embarrassment that they had been having a lot of odd-smelling diarrhea. Others were rushed to the hospital to be treated for severe dehydration. Of those, some had developed sunken eyes and wrinkled skin, and some had not. And many showed no symptoms at all, and never went in for treatment. That was how it spread.
While cholera was a serious problem in many developing countries, it was rare in the States, and usually came from travelers returning home from one of those epidemic-seized countries. And the first few cases did not cause much alarm at all. It wasn't until hundreds of people started arriving at hospitals for triage or emergency care reported those symptoms. And as the disease spread, thousands and thousands more appeared at hospitals and clinics, hoping to be seen. What started in the depths of New York City spread throughout the Northeast in only a few hours, and then along the Eastern Seaboard and out west before nightfall. By the next morning, each of the contiguous States were seeing thousands of cases, and growing portions of Mexico and Canada were starting to feel the disease's effects as well. It had spread more quickly than even modern technology had allowed, and faster than modern technology could handle the influx of patients.
The scope of it was the biggest problem. No one was equipped to handle that many cases that suddenly. Hospitals, and in some cases entire towns, were quarantined by order of their mayors or governors. The Federal Emergency Management Agency rushed to help, meaning that the agency got tied up in red tape and was not able to respond in a timely manner. Other organizations also sprang into action, offering all the help they could, and soon found themselves spread thin, when their own operatives weren't succumbing to the disease themselves.
Another considerably large problem was death.
In a majority of cases, the patient died within hours. That wasn't unusual in cholera epidemics, but it did make dealing with the matter that much more difficult. It added an air of urgency to the proceedings, both within hospitals and among the patients' families. If nothing was done quickly enough, all hope for the patient was gone.
The disease struck very discriminately, but without any observable pattern. Specials and civilians alike were affected. Some who had had contact with eventual patients, and some who hadn't. People of all walks of life and vastly different genetics. Some fell ill quickly, some caught it slowly, most never caught it at all. But there just didn't seem to be any particular reason to it. It just happened.
And when it happened, it left lost lives and tattered families in its wake.
[OOC thread]