Free Dawn of a New Day by Nick Mariano Page A

for several hours and then put in isolation. After five days the subject reported no ill effects from the exposure and blood tests confirmed that the virus had not taken hold in his body. Although the scientists weren’t 100% sure that they had a totally effective vaccine, they also knew it was the only thing they had so far. An initial supply of the X554 vaccine was stored at Fort Detrick and medical teams were dispatched to outlying areas in NY where the virus had not yet spread. People were administered the vaccine and the scientists and doctors sat and waited to see if any new cases would be reported in these areas. Meanwhile a number of pharmaceutical companies were pressed into service by the federal government and started to manufacture the vaccine. Gradually all the Eastern states were brought under control and only a handful of new cases were reported. By this point in time, however, over 15,000 had been infected and 13,000 had already died. The government mandated that all persons in certain areas of the United States, where infections were previously reported, must be vaccinated. The program continued for several weeks and it appeared that things had finally slowed down and the virus had run its course.
    Fort Detrick had a long history as being one of the key locations for working with various pathogens. In its early days the Army’s Chemical Warfare Service was based there and had responsibility and oversight of research and development. The projects were cloaked in secrecy and perhaps only the country’s Manhattan Project would be more secret and out of the public’s knowledge. During the days leading up to World War II the facility would produce offensive biological weapons to be used if necessary. Over 5,000 bombs containing anthrax spores were produced at the base, however, files never reflected if any of the bombs were ever used during the war or post war times. The base would eventually be nicknamed “Fort Doom” and local residents in Maryland would always wonder exactly what was taking place at the facility.
    Following the war from the 1940’s to mid 1950’s, the U.S. Government would employ over 1,600 German and Austrian scientists and engineers, who had done research for the Nazis and who had expertise in aircraft, rocket technology and biological warfare. After the war the base would become the nation’s permanent facility for peacetime biological research and development, although it was never publicized exactly what research was being conducted there. Finally in 1956 the facility’s name was changed from Camp Detrick to Fort Detrick and its mission was to continue biomedical research and work with biological agents that required specialty containment. The facility continued to conduct its research and development until 1969 when the United States ratified the Geneva protocol prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons. Offensive biological research was then outlawed and the facility moved to research only on a defensive level. Fort Detrick would now focus only on diagnostics, preventive measures and treatments for biological infections.  It would work hand in hand with the CDC and other government agencies engaged in similar research. Several medical research teams would make Fort Detrick their home, including, the U.S.Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Naval Medical Logistics Command and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. The Fort would grow in area and size until over 7,800 military, federal and contractor employees would work there, including The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense.
    There was no better facility to tackle the mutated virus, however, even with the expertise available, everyone had hit a stonewall. Even though they now knew that the Asian version of the infection was much more complicated than the U.S. strain,