After all, the FBI has to hunt the terrorists. Sealing the hospital actually fuels fear, Osterholm contends. Getting vaccinated a few days after breathing smallpox is soon enough to stay healthy and not spread infection, so let visitors and staff go home until the vaccine arrives. If this happened in Minnesota, thousands would flee to Canada, Carlson said, but the governor couldn't seal the state's borders. No, just people who came into contact with sick patients.
Hospitals report other cases of mysterious fevers and rashes.
By day's end, CDC counts 48 smallpox cases - 10 in nearby states, so it's spreading. The president addresses the nation, saying the attack may have occurred April 1. It's too late for vaccine to help anyone exposed that day. No wonder the fictional epidemic is spreading - notice that nobody closed the airport. John Bartlett of Johns Hopkins University can't believe that other cities would accept travelers from a region experiencing smallpox.