The Laptev Virus

“…are more likely to get eaten by cats, thus completing the parasite’s lifecycle,” said Sarah.

“I see,” he said. “Okay, that makes sense. That’s what those research articles were saying.”

Sarah got up and sat in a chair so that she could face him.

“But your story here leads me to wonder,” he said, “if the parasite could be having an effect on human behavior as well?”

Sarah nodded. “One of the crazy suggestions that came up at the meeting was to inoculate people with Toxoplasmosis—or Toxospasmosis, as Angela calls it—to protect them from Laptev, but if it is causing behavioral changes or even mental illness, then it would be all the more reason why we don’t want to get more people infected. Can you imagine the disaster if more people, even non-cat owners, were infected with an organism that can cause them mental illness in order to protect them from the virus?”

John nodded. “You’re right. It could be a bad situation. It would make no sense to do that.”

“I know, but I can’t help wondering if maybe there is a way to control the cat pathogen so that it doesn’t make us ill? We already know that there are tons of people with low-level infections, and the vast majority of these people are not crazy.”

John looked at her skeptically.

“Well, everyone is a little crazy, infections notwithstanding, but you know what I mean,” said Sarah. “Look around. Tons of people own cats. The vast majority of these people aren’t a menace to society. But if there are people out there who are Laptev HFV-resistant, that could be a real advantage. I’m thinking that I would like to get blood samples from those people and test the samples against the virus. It would be great to know which ones are more resistant and why. And of course we could investigate what other effects Toxoplasmosis has on their lives. Are they living longer or shorter lives? Is it affecting their behavior in any way? Which reminds me, Emile mentioned that Toxo affects men and women differently. Do you know anything about that? ”

“No, but considering that it’s affecting behavior, it’s not that surprising.”

“He said it made the men more fearless and the women more social.”

John smiled. “You’re really getting into this, aren’t you? I mean, more than you thought you would just about a month ago when Rhonda dropped the bomb on your lap.”

Sarah looked down at the table and thought for a minute. Her husband was right. Only a few weeks earlier she had felt so betrayed that her team had had to turn on a dime and begin investigating a whole new topic, and now they were all engrossed in their new line of investigation.

“Yeah,” she said. “I really am.”

“And you’re making a difference, too. I mean, you all have uncovered more than you thought you might. Do you think it’s going to be hard to go back to HIV in just a couple of weeks?”

“Yes,” she said again. “It will be hard. I guess in the back of my mind I was kind of hoping that if Riesigoil was really content with the work we’re doing, and if they could continue to provide the funding, we might just keep going with it for a while. Especially now that it’s become so interesting with the Toxoplasmosis variable thrown in.”

John took a deep breath and reached for Sarah’s hand. “But they’re not in it just for the science, you know. They’re an oil company.”

“Many companies sponsor ongoing research projects.”

“True. But we don’t know if Riesigoil will.”

Sarah looked down at the floor. In her heart of hearts she knew he was right.

CHAPTER 25

Shortly after she arrived at lab the next morning, Sarah was greeted by Emile. He had a frown on his face and was shaking his head.

“I just got back from the vivarium,” he announced. “I had a call waiting this morning as soon as I got in. Sarah, it’s about the mice that Kevin rescued from the Waiting Room the other day.”

“The ones that survived Laptev because they had the Toxoplasmosis infection?”

Emile nodded. “Since bringing them back we had kept them all together in the same cage as they need to be in special quarantine since they could be contagious. Still I didn’t expect this to happen,” he said, shaking his head again. “They’re all dead.”

“What? How?” Sarah’s face flushed and her throat felt tight. Maybe they had been wrong and the Toxo infection had not protected them after all?

“I’m not really sure, but it’s a real mess, blood everywhere. It looks like they basically got in a huge fight and bit each other to death. In all the years I’ve worked with mice I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sarah shuddered. “Are you sure it wasn’t hemorrhagic fever? I mean, with the blood and all.”

“No, it’s not hemorrhagic fever. These are definitely bites. They severed feet, ears and limbs. Some mice died biting each other’s throats. It was gruesome and brutal.”

Sarah grimaced. “My goodness! What do you think came over them?”