Chapter 5: Yambuku Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 5, a man in Yambuku is treated for a malaria type illness, but dies before he can recover. In a nearby town, several others became ill and died as well. Soon after the funeral, the patient's wife and her mother were deathly ill as were others, and soon the mission was filled with the diseased. Some of the mission nurses became ill and were sent to Zaire, but they died as well, and another outbreak was seen at Kinshasha hospital. A team from the CDC arrived to find nearly all the staff deceased or dying. Yambuku was immediately placed in quarantine, while simultaneously, another outbreak was discovered in Maridi. Paul Bres, an expert of viruses at WHO, was dispatched to the area to gather samples, which were sent in for analysis.

Peter Piot at CDC processed the samples...