"Sonny Whitelaw - Rgesus Factor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Whitelaw Sonny)

he felt a little calmerтАФbut not complacent; he would not be made the fall guy.

'So it's a secondary complication, like the mumps, right?тАЩ Blake said, looking at Clem.

'No, sir.тАЩ Jean shook her head. тАШSterility is the primary consequence of the disease. The Rhesus virus is
spreading fast and it's...'
'One hundred percent contagious,тАЩ Clem said flatly, his eyes focused on the President's.

'In Rh-positive blood groups only,тАЩ injected Obermann; his bureaucratic mind at work.

'And one hundred percent of victims become sterile,тАЩ Clem finished.

President Blake blanched as the implications hit him. тАШEveryone..?'

Clem nodded.

Blake looked at Obermann and Simmons, then asked in a dangerously low voice, тАШHow long have you
known this?'

Obermann swallowed and looked at Jean, who had the grace to blush.

Clem wasn't feeling so generous, but he was still a political animal. Pointing fingers now was a waste of
time. They were too late, years too late. тАШMr. President,тАЩ he said tiredly, тАШwe've lived with the possibility
of a doomsday bug since Ebola reared its ugly head. And AIDS is, in effect, a slow burning Andromeda.
We knew Rhesus was destroying these proteins. And we knew it was spreading fast. But as Dr.
Obermann pointed out, no one's been getting sick. Hell, Rh-negatives don't even have the protein so the
virus was considered a harmless curiosity.'

'After the cholera epidemic the CDC should have been alerted to such a possibility!тАЩ Blake snapped.
тАШNeed I remind you of what happened to your predecessor?'

Staring pointedly at Obermann, Clem said, тАШAfter which the previous administration ordered the CDC to
hand over all of our research on Rhesus to USAMRIID. In all fairness to the army, there are hundreds of
thousands of bacteria and viruses in existence, any one of which has the potential to become a plague
organism. In 2011, USAMRIID could not justifiably allocate resources to study one of many seemingly
innocuous viruses while the worst epidemic since Swine Flu ravaged the country.

'The draconian methods the army used to control cholera worked, but they were deeply offensive to the
American people and arguably cost the previous administration the election. Although your administration
reinstated the CDC's original mandate and we've been collecting data on the spread of Rhesus, our
budget is still a jokeтАФand USAMRIID still has control of our research.'

'It's the damned Republican dominated Congress,тАЩ the President declared. тАШThey keep vetoing the
budget.'

Always watching your political butt. тАШYes, sir,тАЩ Clem continued. тАШHowever you look at it the CDC has
been set up to take the fallтАФagain. We're not in a position to deal with any major disease outbreak.
We're fighting a losing battle against incurable tuberculosis and STDs, West Nile virus, dengue, toxic
algae bloomsтАФthe list is endless and exacerbated by climate changeтАФwhile trying to re-establish
ourselves as a creditable institution! I've spent hours juggling our budget and personnel in a desperate bid