Anthrax Scenario
Mr. Prewitt - Teacher Expert
In 2001, a secret biochemical lab was built 35 miles east of Austin, TX to
study Anthrax and ways it could be manipulated to serve as a weapon. In the
facility, 20 lbs of Anthrax are being tested by some lead scientists when
something terrible goes wrong with the containment equipment. . . . .
You are on the City Council of Austin. You have just received an early
morning phone call from the head of the lab advising you that the containment
vat containing the 20 lbs of Anthrax has just exploded and the anthrax they
thought could be contained within the facility is slowly drifting toward Austin in the
form of an airborne cloud. Meteorologists estimate that with the current wind
patterns, there are only 24 hours until the Anthrax cloud reaches the city. They
forecast that the cloud will only pass over the northeastern part of the city and
environs. As it moves, they estimate that Anthrax spores will continually fall of
the cloud onto nearby farms and ranches in its path.
Ebola Sudan Scenario
Mr. Villa - Teacher Expert
In Sudan, Dr. Ethan Spyder, a primatologist, was working with guenons, patas,
mangabeys, macaques, mandrill monkeys, and baboons. He attended the
annual New York City Primatologist Conference, which lasted from April 4 - 8.
The conference has approximately 2000 attendees. He arrived in New York on
April 3. During two days of the conference, he experienced fever and flu-like
symptoms. He was hospitalized at New York Community Hospital on August 6
for more severe episodes of diarrhea and vomiting. As a result, he developed
gastro-intestinal hemorrhaging and died on April 8. Since Dr. Spyder’s demise,
seven other people have reported to hospitals in New York with similar
symptoms.
Smallpox Scenario
Mrs. Stevens – Teacher Expert
Megan Champlin is a dynamic young Congresswoman from Connecticut. Her
husband, Lionel Champlin, and six year old daughter, Vanessa, live with her in
Washington D.C. As a new member of Congress, she has been working long
hours as she reads through bills and fulfills her responsibilities serving on the
sub-committee on foreign affairs. She has lunch once a month with other
freshmen members of Congress and they support each other as they adapt to
politics and life in Washington.
Congresswoman Champlin began to have flu- like symptoms last week, but as
other rookie members of Congress had also had a fever and back pain, which
had diminished in a few days, she continued to work as usual. The back pain
bothered her, however and she took an Alleve pill in the middle of the night to
relieve the pain and help her to sleep. Two days later she noticed a hive-like rash
on her hands and when she mentioned it to her husband, he asked her if she
thought it could be a reaction to the medication she had taken. Upon reading the
label, she realized that she had not had drunk enough water with the Alleve and
that failure to do so could result in hives.
Ms. Champlin went to work and spent a busy morning with her sub-committee,
but began to be more concerned about her hives when she met with her fellow
new congress members at lunch and discovered they too had hives on their
hands. After discussing possible sources of the hives, the group realized their
recent fever and current hives were classic features of smallpox. They surmised
that the smallpox, variola major, had probably been released through the
pressurized air duster canisters they had found on their desks one day, which
they used believing new staff were issued at least this small convenience. An
assistant then interrupted their lunch with a FAX from a well-known terrorist
group.
SARS Scenario
Mr. Dinkler, Teacher Expert
Tom Cochran is a film editor with Sony studios in Los Angeles. His job requires
consistent travel to various locations all around the globe. Recently, he has
spent two weeks in his birthplace of Toronto, Ontario due to the enormous
amount of work that has been sent north of the border. As the temperature drops
to 15 below, Tom misses sunny L.A. but has at least been able to enjoy some
extra time with family and friends in his “home and native land”. Tom has been
particularly appreciative of the time he has been given in Toronto to visit his
grandmother who has recently been hospitalized with pneumonia. The doctors
blame her condition on the recent cold snap but are optimistic about her recovery
and Tom has close contact with her each day of his trip before returning home to
LA.
Upon arrival, Tom is asked to report directly to the studio lot where he is to
screen his latest work “Cyrus the Virus”. Tom has a fever and a dry cough but
knows that his boss will become irate if he tries to call in sick today. During the
screening, Tom begins to cough much more frequently and eventually excuses
himself from the meeting. Tom takes the bus home and then visits the drug store
to pick up some flu medication. However, after screening the film, the studio
heads are so excited about the project they immediately catch the next flight to
New York to promote it to the producers.
Lying in bed with a high fever and chest congestion, Tom picks up the phone to
learn that his grandmother has been quarantined to an isolated area of the
hospital she was in. The pneumonia that they had diagnosed her with was in fact
SARS and all the hospital staff on the floor is now in house quarantine with their
families.
Cholera Scenario
Mrs. Butler – Teacher Expert
John St. James, a successful lawyer had the good fortune of finding an
apartment in one of the oldest sections of Charleston, South Carolina. His greatgreat grandfather had been a successful businessman in Charleston and John’s
dream was to return to the city that his family helped develop, but left during the
1850’s for California gold. John’s apartment was on the second floor of a three
story building on Church Street in one of the oldest sections of Charleston.
That winter, there was more rain than usual and quite a bit of flooding occurred in
the Charleston. After the series of storms, John noticed that the water from his
tap smelled a little unpleasant. But, being the true Charlestonian that he wanted
to be, he didn’t resort to fancy bottled water when cooking or getting a quick
drink. A few weeks later he got a terrible case of diarrhea – the worst he ever had
experienced. When he went to the urgent care clinic he noticed that he
recognized many people in the waiting room. They all lived in his building or in
buildings nearby! Everyone looked as sick as he felt and made frequent trips to
the restroom. The doctor diagnosed his malady as cholera! 90% of the residents
in his building were struck with the disease as were residents in on his block.
Only a few residents never got sick. Within a week, 200 people were diagnosed
with cholera and all of these resided or worked in the oldest part of Charleston.
Enough complaints about the smelly water had reached city government officials
that an inspection was ordered. It was found that the sewage and water pipes in
most of the Charleston were laid side by side, instead of being separated as in
modern buildings. In a few locations, corrosion in both pipes was discovered and
some leakage of sewage had occurred. John St. James installed a water filter in
his kitchen as soon as he was well.
Influenza Avian Scenario
Mr. Kellogg – Teacher Expert
Francine Lewis is chief buyer for the number one big box mega store chain in the
world. In China recently to discuss further price cuts, Ms. Lewis and her
entourage admired a blue and gold Macaw, the sweatshop mascot. It coughed
on her. The supplier held firm and would not cut his employees’ salary from 12
dollars per month. Ms. Lewis took the company’s business elsewhere. 2 days
later the bird was dead.
By the time she reached Los Angeles 3 days later, Ms. Lewis was suffering from
classic flu symptoms. Despite a persistent cough and 103 degree fever she met
with Wallace Turnbuckle, owner of a clothing manufacturing company in The City
of Commerce, and his staff, and politely convinced them to maintain productivity
while trimming labor costs by 20 percent. In addition, she infected 60 percent of
the factory workers, including Mr. Turnbuckle, with a new Influenza type A virus
she contracted from the Macaw. They, in turn, infected their family members.
Home for a few days before jetting off to the annual shareholders’ meeting, Ms.
Lewis hosted a slumber party for her grade school daughter, volunteered in her
son’s kindergarten class, and attended a retirement party with her husband. In
the last two weeks 6242 people in Los Angeles have been diagnosed with the flu.
Of those, some 250 have died of complications from the virus originally
introduced into the United Stated by Ms. Lewis.
Tuberculosis Scenario
Ms. Cole – Teacher Expert
Rueben Salazar, 24, is coughing as he slices off sheets of aluminum in the
Southland Aluminum Finishing Company, based in Atlanta, Georgia. His coworkers in the factory urge him to seek medical attention but, because he is
illegally working in the U.S., he is afraid to visit a doctor for fear of being
deported. Instead, he has been taking over-the-counter cough syrup but has had
no relief from the violent hacking. He thinks he might recover if he could just get
some rest, but he is working two jobs to support his family and can’t miss a day.
For the last two years, Rueben has worked weekends as an orderly at a local
retirement home. He is well liked by the 52 elderly residents and is especially
known for his skills at playing checkers. Little do they know, he has brought
Tuberculosis into their midst.
Hanta Virus Scenario
Ms. Steele– Teacher Expert
There are approximately 200 farms in Marion County, Kansas, and the residents
of this rural farming community are celebrating the June harvest at the annual
“Wheat Harvest Festival”. The farmers anticipated a good crop this growing
year, especially since heavy snows and rainfall helped drought-stricken plants
and animals grow in larger than usual amounts. There is a damper on the
festival, however. One farmer, John Tempest, from the town of Hillsboro in
Marion County, became sick a week prior to the festival. He was suffering from
shortness of breath and died quickly after being rushed to the hospital.
Unfortunately, his widowed wife and 60% of the hired help at 50 local farms are
also experiencing similar symptoms. There are over 250 people employed at
these 50 farms. Some of the workers are noticing an unusual number of deer
mice droppings in the silos where grain is stored. There is a possibility that the
larger wheat crop also spurred the growth of the rodent population in the area.