Part 1, Chapter 5 Project Ebola Summary

The following morning, Major Nancy Jaax rises early to study for her pathology-board exams before leaving for work, where she is in training for veterinary pathology, the study of disease in animals. Her building at Fort Detrick is the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID (pronounced "you Sam rid"). USAMRIID researches ways to protect soldiers from biological weapons or naturally occurring diseases. Jaax is anxious to check in on several monkeys that had been recently infected with the Ebola virus to experiment with possible cures. The project is headed by a civilian Army scientist named Eugene Johnson who has developed a reputation for being a little crazy in his enthusiasm for working with such a deadly virus.

Various areas of USAMRIID are categorized by Biosafety levels ranging from zero to four (the...