Panic in the Streets Page #4

to be pneumonia.

Thirty-two people had

had contact with her...

...and within four days, before the disease

could be correctly diagnosed and contained...

...twenty-six of them had died, and they

died suddenly, violently and horribly.

The disease was finally found

to be pneumonic plague.

Pneumonic plague is

the pulmonary form of bubonic...

...the black death

of the Middle Ages...

- And its death incidence is practically 100%.

- Who'd you say he was?

I'm Dr. Reed of the United States

Public Health Service...

...and one of the jobs of my department

is to keep plague out of this country.

Sit down. Sit down.

Don't let me interrupt you.

Speak to somebody about it,

will you, please? Come on, Mary.

Has Dr. Reed filled you in on this?

Have you finished, Doctor?

Well there's not much more,

Mr. Mayor.

Bubonic plague, as you probably know,

is spread by the rat flea...

...which is why we watch

all ships and ports.

Pneumonic, on the contrary,

can be spread like a common cold...

...on the breath, sneezes

or sputum of its victims.

Very interesting, but I don't quite see why

we were called into this.

Because this morning,

right here in the city...

...your police found the body of a man

who was infected with this disease.

Well, Dan, what about it?

- Our reports show the man died with two bullet wounds.

- He did. Heart and lungs.

- Death was probably instantaneous. Right, Tom?

- Yes, sir.

- We had a police surgeon...

- Regardless of what the police surgeon said...

...he would have died

within 12 hours.

- But what he did die of was two bullet holes.

- He had pneumonic plague.

- But he died of...

- Drop it, Tom.

- Dr. Mackey?

- As you know, Mr. Mayor, I wasn't there.

Ben was there when the body was brought in,

but I can go now and check.

- I had the body destroyed.

- You had it destroyed?

It was the prime source of contamination.

I had Ben cremate it.

I see.

What else have you done, Mackey?

Everyone who came in contact

with the body has been inoculated...

...everyone we know of...

with serum and streptomycin.

And now I think

they ought to be isolated.

We can have them watched.

We know who they are... All but one...

...the man who killed him.

- Or men.

- Mr. Mayor, this man was shot.

The killer wasn't within 10 feet of him.

I can prove it.

- Was he shot on that riverbank, Captain?

- Of course not.

He was dumped off the Canal Street Pier

about 5:
00, 5:30.

- How did he get to the Canal Street Pier?

- How do I know?

Somebody must have...

The point is that whoever dumped him there

may very well be walking around...

...with incipient plague

at this moment.

- Oh, now, wait a moment.

- No. We've got to work on the supposition the doctor's right.

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