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The song, 'Island in
the Sun', by Weezer plays as people frolic in the sun of a tropical
paradise.  A woman, Jenny
Small, watches everyone with a worried
expression on her face. She walks over to where two young women
are talking.Woman #1: Whoever thought vacationing with the people you see all week was a good idea should be shot. Woman #2: Oh, my god. Have you seen Jerry Landau in a speedo? Jenny approaches them: Um...you ladies okay?  Woman #2: Just
another day in paradise.Jenny: Where's your friend? Kim, is it? Woman #1: Actually, she's feeling kinda sick. Woman #2: We thought it was too many tequila shots, but the resort doctor said there's a bug going around. Jenny: Well, don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll check on her for you.   She hurries away, looking worried, and enters the nightclub which has been turned into makeshift clinic. Several sick people are lying in beds. She asks the doctor tending to them: What can I do? Doctor: It's getting worse. Get help now! The NIH team is on an airplane. Frank Powell returns from the cockpit: We'll land in Miami in 40. From there, it's an hour by chopper to the island.  Dr. Stephen
Connor: Run
down what we have, Dr. McCabe.Dr. Miles McCabe: For whose benefit? Frank: Yours. Miles: Right. Okay. We have half a dozen guests at the Costa Bimini resort, a private island off the coast of Grand Bahama, down with a variety of symptoms. Stephen: What's the chief complaint? Miles: Pleuritic chest pains and night sweats.  Stephen: And what does that tell you? Miles: Could be the flu. Or it could be the onset of hemorraghic fever. Have any of the guests been in Africa, lately? Stephen: You're over-thinking this. Forget Africa. We're in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Natalie Durant: There's possible cavitation in the mid and lower lung fields. Miles: Tuberculosis? Frank: That's what the local doctor thinks. Stephen: Then again, he probably went to med school in Grenada. They disembark from the plane in Miami and begin unloading equipment. Stephen: I need H & E stain, oxygen-activated charcoal, IV poles and saline. Miles: Don't they have any supplies? What do they do if somebody gets sick? Frank: You ever been sick on vacation, Miles? Miles: No. Frank: Don't be.  Eva Rossi: No high-end resort is going to set aside space for a clinic when they can book a room for $600 a night. Natalie: I just got off the phone with Bethesda. Remember that mystery pneumonia in Dade County? Stephen: Yeah, the case we passed on. Natalie: The first patient died. Now, there are three more cases.  Stephen: If it turns out to be TB on the island, we'll treat it and backtrack. Natalie: One of the patients, Raymond Diaz, is the local director of Health and Human Services here in Miami. Frank: Never dis the man who signs your checks. Stephen: McCabe, you're going to stay here and monitor the pneumonia cases. Miles: With all due respect, Dr. Connor, I'm ready for more than palpating and intubating. And...I've 
never been to the Caribbean.Natalie: I'll stay. Dr. McCabe is better suited for the kind of triage you'll need. You and I can do everything we need by cell phone and computer uplink. Stephen: Fine. Eva, you stay here with Natalie and help with the pneumonia cases. Powell, McCabe, come with me. Miles and Natalie smile at each other. |
 Stephen, Miles
and
Frank arrive on the island by chopper. They are greeted by Jenny
Small and Gary Riesen, who escort them across the grounds.Stephen: Dr. Stephen Connor, NIH. Jenny: Jenny Small. I'm with the resort. This is Gary Riesen. His company's here on retreat. Gary: Thank God you're here. My employees are dropping by the hour. My VP went down this morning. Stephen: How did it start?  Gary: Chest pains. I thought he was having a heart attack. Stephen: Did you all come here directly from the mainland? Gary: No, we first spent two days in St. Thomas, but no one got sick until we got here. Jenny: We have an excellent record when it comes to health and safety, Doctor. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Frank: Why didn't you transport the patients to the nearest hospital? Gary: We tried. But, the island hospital is nothing more than a glorified clinic. They just sent one of their doctors. Jenny: There have been some isolated cases of tuberculosis on the island. Now, they think we've got a situation and we're going to spread it. Frank: When 3% of your poplulation is ill, it's no longer a situation. It's an outbreak. Jenny: Oh, God, can we please not label this? I really don't want to scare the guests. Stephen: This is no longer a public relations matter, Ms. Small. It's about public health and you have a little problem on your hands. They enter the room where the patients are being cared for. It's full of sick people in beds.  Miles: Make that a
big one.Stephen: We were told you were stabilized at six patients. Jenny: That was yesterday. Stephen: Yeah, whatever's infecting them is spreading fast. Look, if we're going to treat this, we need full disclosure from here on in. Jenny: Okay. I'm sorry. What can I do? Stephen: I need a list of all the guests - who's sick, who's not, what rooms they're in, what they've been eating and drinking. I need a record of every illness documented here in the last two years, as well as every suspected case of TB on the island. Jenny: My God, that's going to take time. Stephen: You strike me as competent. Outside the nightclub. Stephen: So, we have over a dozen guests with a systemic debilitating illness.   Miles: Shouldn't we
be taking
precautions if we think it's TB, like masks or...?Stephen: Why do you think I asked you about your BCG shots? We all received TB vaccinations back in Washington. Frank: I'll start a timeline and database for all the patients. Stephen: Document their every move from the moment they got here until now. See if there's been any change in the weather patterns or recent infestation. See if the place has been renovated or painted. Miles: There are a number of toxins that can cause acute respiratory distress that looks like TB. Ammonia, smoke, hydrocarbons... Frank: There's, also, a chance that someone on the retreat was exposed earlier and brought the illness with them.  Stephen: No. I checked with the company's home office in Orlando. No one back there has any of the same symptoms. So, let's just assume for now that the source is here. Remember, there's enough fax machines and cell phones to create a panic. Let's keep this think quiet, okay? Miles: Okay. Frank: Got it. |
Back in Miami, Natalie
is examining Raymond Diaz. Natalie: Have you
traveled outside of the country recently, Mr.
Diaz?Diaz: This isn't ordinary pneumonia, is it? The doctors said it's negative for bacteria. Natalie: I'm going to have Ms. Rossi take a detailed history. Places 
you've been, things you've eaten, animals you've been in
contact with.Diaz: I gave the doctors everything. Natalie: You, more than anyone, know what we do, Mr. Diaz. Trust us to take care of you. Diaz: It's a cruel way to find out if you people are as good as I've been told. On the island.   Stephen: Doctor, this
woman has severe multiforme. What did
you give her?Doctor: A shot of antihistamine, but it didn't help. Stephen: It didn't help because she's not suffering from an allergy. Doctor: I'm only one person. That's why my hospital called you. Stephen: Look, given the presenting symptoms, antihistamine was the right call, but now it's changing. It's spreading, isn't it? Doctor: Significantly. Nosebleeds, headaches and enlargement of lymph nodes.  Stephen: McCabe, visiting hours are over. Until we know what this is, no one healthy gets in, all right? Miles: Yes, sir. Stephen: Get blood, urine, mantoux scratch and full history. Miles: Wait, you want me to... Stephen: Yeah. Treat your patients, Miles. A young woman, Anne Harring, sitting beside her sick husband, Dan, watches Stephen and Frank leave the room. Anne: I'll be right back, sweetie. Dan, weakly says: Honey...  Anne hurries to catch up with Stephen and Frank: Excuse me...Excuse me. My husband is lying in there and nobody's telling me what's wrong with him. Can you please help him? Stephen: As soon as we know what we're dealing with, we will. He and Frank walk away. Frank: All right, I'll start testing the food and water, then move on to the victims' rooms from there. Stephen: Get a chronology from the doctor. See if we can figure out who came down with this first. Back in Miami, Natalie goes into the waiting room to speak with Mr. Diaz's family.   Natalie: We
confirmed your doctor's diagnosis of
endocarditis. It's the swelling...Mr. Diaz's daughter, Anel: ...of the valves around the heart. Natalie: Yeah. Anel: I learned a lot from my Dad. So, you can treat it? Natalie: The enocarditis is only a complication of the underlying condition. Anel: And what's that? Natalie: We don't know, yet. On the island, Miles is examining a young woman named Kim.   Miles: Were you one
of the first to get sick?Kim shakes her head "no": How are my friends? Miles: Oh, they're fine. They said they're waiting to have another tequila shot with you. Kim laughs weakly. Miles: Stick out your tongue for me. (He swabs the inside of her mouth.) Okay, Kim. You're gonna be fine. Miles stands up and addresses all the patients: We're going to have you all back in a Miami hospital in just a few hours.  The camera pulls back until we see the scene on a security monitor. Stephen and Frank are in the Security Room looking at computer diagrams of the resort.  Frank, indicating
a diagram: All right, this is East Pavilion, West Pavilion.
There's a small cluster in this structure right here, but it stops on
the third floor. That can indicate a source, but there are cases
sprinkled all over the other buildings. There's no pattern.Stephen: If it were spreading person-to-person, we'd see a more consistent plume.  Frank: So far, there's no link between food, drink, alcohol, nothing. Stephen, pointing to the screen: What's this one right here? Frank: That's the staff quarters. Stephen: And not one of them is sick? Frank: Nary a soul. Stephen and Frank are walking through the grounds. Stephen: What are the guests doing that the staff isn't? Frank: They're voting Republican? Stephen: Playing. Pools, hot tubs. Frank: The spa, the gym, the game room. They probably have different sheets on their beds, too. Stephen: Whatever distinguishes the guests from the staff, test it. Frank: All right.   Frank takes samples from the swimming pool, hot tub, etc.
as Jenny Small and the guests
watch him.Stephen and Frank run tests on the samples.  Back in Miami, Natalie is running tests when Eva walks in with the patients' charts.  Eva:
Did you know the Diazes were one of the first families to come here
when Castro took power in '59? We had a long talk.Natalie: Were you able to talk to the other pneumonia patients? Eva: I had to show the chief of staff my special tattoo, but, yes, I was. Natalie: And? Eva: I can't find anything that linked them. Nothing that makes sense, anyway. Natalie: There's a reason why they have an acute respiratory illness and thousands of others, here, don't. Go back over everything. The kinds of household chemicals they use, sports they enjoy, habits they have.  Eva: Uh, I'm not a doctor or a toxicologist. I'm the press liaison. Natalie: Yeah, but you were an investigative journalist for four years before you became a PR person. You know how to talk to anyone. Eva: Ah, you want me to flex. Okay. Fine. She walks over and picks up the patients' charts. Natalie: Just remember. Unlike what you usually do, this isn't about spinning information to suit our purposes. It's about sifting through and gathering evidence that objectively leads to a conclusion. Eva begins checking the charts, as does Natalie.  Eva: So,
how are things going with that hockey player?Natalie: Excuse me? Eva: That guy, Jeremy...Joe... Natalie: Jordan. It's over...Why do you ask? Eva: You don't see that many women who are beautiful and brilliant. I would think men would be all over you. Natalie notices something in one of the charts: Were you able to talk to a Mr. Gerald Borman?  Eva: No, I've been at the hospital all morning. Why? Natalie: Mrs. Borman died from endocarditis five days after showing symptoms. Ray Diaz has been sick for four. Borman's wife may have been the first to contract the disease. Eva: I'll go see if I can tie her to any of the other victims. Natalie: Now, you're thinking like a epidemiologist. |
Stephen and Natalie
are talking via cell phones. Stephen: Twenty-five
and counting and I'm still in the dark.Natalie: Maybe I can be your guide. Stephen: What do you got? Natalie, looking at her computer screen: I can only tell so much  without the
actual samples, but from what I'm seeing, that resort is a four-star
Petri dish. You've got E. coli, enterbactor, non-pathogenic
staph, lactobacillus, candida.Stephen: Which explains why the symptoms are all over the map. Natalie: It's, also, going to make a clinical diagnosis difficult.  Stephen: The scary
thing is the people who are getting sick,
they're not old or immuno-suppressed. They're young healthy
adults and if we don't find and stop what they have, they're going to
bring this back to the States. (He suddenly stops talking and
lowers his phone. Then, he turns and hurries in the opposite
direction.)Natalie: Stephen? Are you there?...(She hangs up the phone.)  Miles: Quarantine?
Don't you think that's a little drastic? This thing isn't
airborne.Stephen: The point is, we know the source is here. If the patients disperse to the mainland and the infection spreads, we won't know where to look. Miles: But, I already told these people they'd be going home.  As they approach the makeshift clinic, Anne Harring hurries up to them
and addresses Miles: Doctor, can you please tell my husband the
government's making arrangements for us to leave?Miles: Look, I'm afraid I can't. Until we know more, no one's allowed off the island. Anne: What? Stephen: Because of the unknown nature of this illness, I've issued a quarantine order. The resort's under lockdown. They enter the nightclub, leaving the woman locked out.  Gary
Riesen: I've chartered a boat from
Miami to pick up the patients. I pulled every string I had to get
it.Stephen: Tell it to turn around. Gary: Why should I? The people who work for me, the people who I care for, are getting sicker. I had two more employees go down this last hour. Stephen: That's my point, exactly. As bad as this seems, at least we're in a closed, controllable environment. If one sick person were to reach the mainland, there's no stopping runaway infection.  Jenny Small: You have no jurisdiction, Dr. Connor. Your team is here at the invitation of the local Ministry of Health. You can't, personally, place the island under quarantine. Stephen: You're absolutely right, Ms. Small. I have no jurisdiction. But, what I do have is fifteen years of experience, all over the world, seeing first-hand what infectious disease can do, how fast it can spread and how viciously it can kill. So, if closing this place down for a few days means saving thousands of lives, so be it. Gary: I'm trying to understand, Doctor. But, you yourself said that you didn't know what this is.  Maybe, it's nothing.Stephen: Suppose it's not? Suppose we don't contain it here? Do you want your company or your company (to Jenny) associated with the legal and financial responsibilities of exposing hundreds of thousands of people? But, it's your call, Mr. Riesen. Gary: Okay. I'll tell the boat to hold. For now.  Stephen: McCabe,
have you identified those with symptoms?Miles: Yes, sir. Stephen: We need to separate those most vulnerable. Miles: No one in the company's older than 42. Stephen: I'm talking about the children. Miles: You want me to isolate them? Stephen: You know what you need to do.  Anne Harring and
her daughter are playing on the beach when Miles approaches them.Miles: Mrs. Harring.  Anne: Can I see my husband? Miles: Ma'am...I need to put your daughter in a clean environment. Anne: What? Miles: We need to quarantine your daughter. Anne: You want to take her away from me? Miles: Only temporarily. Children can get very ill from the kinds of things we're looking into. Anne: No. She's not sick. I'm not sick. Miles: You could be a carrier. Anne: Of what? Miles: We don't know, yet. But, if you start to show symptoms, it'll be too late. She'll be infected.   Miles to the
little girl: Come on, sweetie.Anne picks up her daughter: No. I've already been separated from my husband. You can't expect me to give you my little girl. Miles: Ma'am...you don't have a choice. It's for her own good. I promise she'll be okay...Mrs. Harring, please. Anne kisses her daughter before handing her to Miles: It's okay, baby. |
 Eva is
questioning Gerald Borman at the marina.Eva: How was your wife's health, Mr. Borman? Borman: Judy was never sick. We used to joke about how much energy she had. Eva: My mom's like that. Run, run, run. Borman: Concerts, benefits. She had a list of all the exotic trips we needed to take. Eva: Did you two go anywhere recently? Borman: I couldn't get away.   Eva: And
what about the rest of her routine? Did it
change at all?Borman: Tennis with her girlfriends, work at the museum. She even read to the school kids in Overtown before she realized how sick she was. Eva: She sounds like a great lady. Borman: Yeah. Uh...I brought you her day planner. I thought it would be helpful...Every night, we'd have a glass of wine, look out at this gorgeous view and remind ourselves just how lucky we were.   In
her car, Eva looks through Mrs. Borman's day planner
and notices an invitation to
an exhibit at an art museum. Rummaging through another patient's
personal affects, she finds a matching invitation.Back on the island.  Stephen: Mr. Harring, I'm Dr. Connor. The doctor, here, says
you're having some pain in your chest.Dan Harring: It feels like a weight pushing down on it. Stephen examines him and says to the island doctor: He's got reddening of the eyes. Could be a virus and rales bilaterally. Dan: Where's my wife and daughter? Stephen: They're in good hands. Trust me. Look, I need you to focus here, Dan. I know you're hurting, but there's something linking you with your sick co-workers.  Something that you all may have done that the others
didn't. Did you do anything ritualistic as a group?
Uh...swim in the reef, go hiking, eat berries, anything, as
insignificant as it may seem?Dan: No. I've just been content to sit in the whirlpool all day. Stephen: Oh, yeah? Why's that? Dan: The mist, you know? The sea air - it's replenishing. Stephen and Natalie are talking via cell phone.   Natalie: Legionnaire's disease? Are you sure?Stephen: This place is loaded with whirlpools and steamrooms, all of them whipping up an aerosolized mist of bacterial soup, night and day. Natalie: And not everyone becomes symptomatic. That explains why you have 25 down and not 125. Are you sure you're right? Stephen: Look, we can't wait for confirmation. I'll treat them with what I have, but I need  broad-spectrum antibiotics - Cipro, erythromycin, loads
of it and fast.Natalie: Well, get me what you've sampled so far. I'll turn it around as quickly as possible. Stephen hangs up the phone. Frank: The '76 outbreak was linked to air conditioning, wasn't it? Stephen: It was never ruled out. Frank: I need access to the ducts.  Natalie loads
the antibiotics onto a helicopter. Eva hurries up: I found something. They all went to the same art gallery. Natalie: Art? Eva: The big, chi-chi opening ten days ago. A group show - progressive Latin-American artists. The Kazerian Gallery, South Beach. They were all there. Natalie: Did Mr. Borman go? Eva: He stayed home to watch Monday Night Football.  Natalie: An art gallery is a pretty fluid location. We need to get there before someone moves or discards anything. She finishes loading the medicine and the helicopter takes off for the island. Eva: I've actually heard of this artist, Elli. During one exhibit, he lay naked under a Plexiglass bridge and did things to himself while people walked in. Natalie: I prefer landscapes, myself. |