04x12 - With Every Breath

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: in 1993, on an

Indian reservation in the

Southwestern united states,

Young navajo indians were dying

At an alarming rate.

More that 20 people would die

From the mysterious disease, one

That health officials had never

Seen before.

But the navajo medicine men

Provided a critical piece of

Information, which led

Investigators around the world

To a most unlikely k*ller.

Covering 25,000 square miles of

High desert in four states --

Utah, colorado, new mexico, and

Arizona -- is a navajo indian

Reservation in an area known as

The four corners.

It's the largest navajo

Community in america with some



Living throughout the desert

Hills.

The scenery brings thousands of

Tourists each year, a vital

Source of revenue for the navajo

Who have inhabited the area for

Centuries.

But poverty is endemic and was a

Fact of life for people like



But merrill bahe had something

That set him apart.

Merrill was a very phenomenal

Person.

But where he stood out was his

Running ability.

And I think if you talk to

Anybody that saw him run, you

Know, they would tell you that

It was a gift that he had in

Running, and he loved to run.

Narrator: merrill bahe was so

Fast, he won a full scholarship

To the santa fe indian school,

A boarding school that was miles

Away from his home, both

Physically and culturally.

He didn't really know how to

Put a sheet on a bed.

You know, it was like he threw

The blanket on, and that was it.

I said, "no, merrill, you put

This down first."

So I had to show him how to make

Up a bed.

Narrator: bahe slowly adjusted

To his new life.

He did well in school.

But the transition to life in

The city was difficult until he

Met florena woody.

Something magical happened.

He met another navajo girl at a

Pueblo school, and they fell in

Love so intensely that the track

Coach decided to make florena

The manager of the track team,

To hand out the towels, so that

Merrill would keep his mind on

His running.

Narrator: not long

Afterwards, they had a son,

Maurice, and planned to get

Married.

But shortly after the baby was

Born, florena woke up one

Morning with what she thought

Was the flu.

She was all cold.

She kept, you know, having these

Chills.

And it was something like you're

Getting a cold or getting sick

From a common cold.

Her lungs were a whiteout,

Meaning they were just solid.

They should usually be dark from

The air.

And they obviously had something

In there, fluid in there.

Doctors raced to find out what

Was wrong.

They administered oxygen to help

Florena breathe, but she went

Into shock.

I saw one of the nurses

Coming out of her room all

Disturbed, and she was crying.

And I knew there that something

Was happening.

Narrator: none of the

Standard procedures worked, and

Florena's heart stopped beating.

The pressure on her lungs was

Simply too much for her body to

Bear.

The cause of death -- acute

Respiratory failure.

Florena woody died on mother's

Day.

She was just 21 years old.

And they told us that she was

Gone, then they allowed us to go

To her room.

I just couldn't believe that my

Baby was gone.

I didn't want to leave her.

I just wanted to hang on to her

Right there.

Narrator: doctors had no idea

What had caused florena's sudden

Death, and they feared that

Whatever k*lled florena woody

Might be contagious.

Narrator: florena's death was

A particularly cruel blow to

Merrill bahe.

The mother of his infant son was

Dead.

As bahe prepared for florena's

Funeral, he, too, started to

Develop similar symptoms.

Merrill bahe was beside

Himself.

He wasn't feeling well, but it

Didn't occur to him that it

Could possibly be the same thing

That affected florena.

Narrator: merrill's physical

Condition quickly deteriorated,

And he was rushed to the

Crownpoint hospital, the same

Hospital that treated florena.

After an initial consultation,

Merrill did not want to be

Treated where florena died, so

His family drove him to the

Indian medical center in

Gallup, an hour away.

Shortly before arrival, merrill

Lost consciousness.

As doctors rushed him into the

Emergency room, he died.

The cause of death -- acute

Respiratory failure.

Merrill bahe was only 19 years

Old.

Ironically, merrill died during

Florena's funeral service, which

Was taking place directly across

The street from the hospital.

The funeral was going on, and

There we had a meeting with a

Medical investigator.

And merrill's family were coming

In for flo's funeral.

And they were told there, and

Everything just started

Happening here and there.

And that's when I went into

Shock.

Narrator: health authorities

Had no explanation for what

k*lled the young couple.

The only way they could

Determine the cause was to

Perform a complete autopsy.

But autopsies are not permitted

In the navajo community.

It's forbidden among traditional

Navajos to have autopsies done.

And the navajo tribal government

Can forbid that if they want to.

And I don't think the government

People really understood that we

Have that sovereign power to do

That even if it's a medical

Emergency.

Narrator: but with her

Daughter and future son-in-law

Dead, bita begay wanted answers.

She took the unusual step of

Defying tradition and the tribal

Elders by giving doctors

Permission to perform the

Autopsies.

The autopsy findings took on a

New importance when merrill and

Florena's infant child, maurice,

Also fell ill.

He was rushed to the hospital

And quarantined.

"What is it?

Where did it come from, or is it

Gonna be here or how?"

You know, I had those questions,

And I wanted to find out.

Narrator: as authorities

Awaited the autopsy results, the

Disease continued its deadly

Rampage.

Within a week of florena and

Merrill's deaths, the number of

Dead had risen to six.

And each day, more people were

Being hospitalized with

Symptoms.

New mexico officials feared they

Had an epidemic on their hands,

And panic gripped the region.

We were getting calls from

Concerned citizens and concerned

Physicians and concerned school

Administrators and concerned

Everybody.

And that always will happen when

Something as dramatic as this

And as frightening as this is

Occurring...

And when you really don't have

Any good answers.

Narrator: the autopsies on

Merrill bahe and florena woody

Answered few questions.

The mystery illness could not be

Identified.

And until it was, more people

Were destined to die.

Doctors in the four corners

Area are on alert to a deadly

Respiratory illness.

Narrator: may, 1993, navajo

Radio stations in the four

Corners indian reservation

Broadcast an alert.

Young navajo were dying at an

Alarming rate, and new cases

Were being reported every day.

So little was known that health

Officials were not able to tell

Listeners what precautions to

Take against the disease.

It was frightening for people

Who came down with a fever and

Cough and headache at the time.

As a physician, we're sending

People home who we had to accept

The possibility that they could

Drop dead within hours of

Leaving the hospital.

Narrator: the outbreak was

Now national news.

And since it appeared that only

Navajo were affected, it was

Dubbed the "navajo flu."

There was pandemonium.

It's impossible to keep a string

Of deaths like this a secret for

Very long.

Narrator: one possibility was

Bubonic plague, the dreaded

Black death that k*lled

Millions during the middle ages

And still strikes more than



Year.

Plague symptoms, particularly

The high fever, muscle pain, and

Fluid buildup bore similarities

To the four corners disease.

Bubonic plague still crops up

In new mexico from time to time.

And so the state is very

Well-equipped to do that test.

And much to the...chagrin of

The investigators, the test was

Negative.

It was chagrin because they

Still didn't know what had

k*lled this young couple.

Narrator: another possibility

Was pneumonic plague.

A highly-contagious disease, it

att*cks the lungs and kills

Quickly, which is what happened

To the four corners victims.

Since it could be treated with

Large doses of antibiotics,

Doctors actually hoped that this

Was what they'd find.

But the autopsies turned up

Something different.

The capillaries of the victims

Had collapsed, leaving the lungs

Wet like large sponges.

This was not consistent with

Pneumonic plague, and it did

Not resemble anything medical

Investigators had ever seen

Before.

And it was very puzzling.

And it was frustrating because

You felt like, "how come we're

Not smart enough to figure this

Out?"

You know, "this shouldn't be

That hard."

So I haven't had that many cases

At one time that I didn't

Understand.

Narrator: local health

Officials called in the centers

For disease control in

Atlanta, georgia.

The cdc's special pathogens team

Was sent in to look for possible

Causes.

And they started their

Investigation in the trailer

That merrill bahe and

Florena woody once called home.

We had no idea what this was.

We didn't know whether it was

Contagious.

We didn't know whether working

With the tissues was gonna be

Dangerous.

We didn't know whether you could

Get this in the laboratory or

From somebody outside in the

Field.

Narrator: the outbreak was

Considered a biosafety level

Four hazard, the most lethal

Designation.

Dressed in specially-designed

Suits to keep them free from any

Contagion, cdc specialists

Searched the trailer and the

Surrounding area.

They wore something like, you

Know, the astronauts that

They're sending off to outer

Space.

And how they dressed, they were

Dressed like that when they came

To our place.

And that was even scarier.

There was fear.

[ Exhales ]

They scared us.

Narrator: while the medical

Community turned to their

Scientific experts, the navajo

Turned to their own

Specialists, the traditional

Healers, or medicine men, who

Were responsible for the health

Of the reservation.

They said they were familiar

With this disease, and that it

Had struck before.

They were saying that this

Outbreak had occurred in this

Century in 1933 and 1918 when it

Was preceded by two years of

Plentiful rains and heavy winter

Snows in the mountains.

Narrator: the tribal healers

Said the heavy rains had

Resulted in a dramatic increase

In the number of mice on the

Reservation, and they suspected

There was some connection

Between the large number of mice

And these deaths.

But they could not say what it

Was.

There is an old navajo saying

That I learned as a child that,

"If a mouse ever runs over your

Clothing, you should burn it."

And nobody ever knew what that

Old saying meant.

Narrator: records indicated

That there were heavy rains in



Preceding the current outbreak.

But health officials could not

Find any link between the rain,

The growing deer-mice

Population, and the outbreak.

Meanwhile, in what's known as

The maximum containment section

Of the cdc labs -- an area

Reserved for the study of the

World's most dangerous germs and

Viruses -- investigators

Performed an elisa test, or

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent

Assay, on the tissue samples

From the victims.

When a disease strikes, the body

Reacts by producing antibodies,

Which are unique to that

Disease.

The elisa test can isolate those

Antibodies in order to compare

Them to the thousands of samples

In the cdc files.

Comparison after comparison was

Made, and no matches were found

Until the investigation took an

Unexpected turn, one that would

Take medical detectives back in

Time and halfway around the

World.

Narrator: within six weeks of

Florena woody and merrill bahe's

Deaths, more than 12 other young

People had also died of the same

Mysterious disease.

Investigators got a break in the

Case when a tourist from

Iceland, after visiting the

Reservation, developed symptoms

Of the disease.

Investigators now realized the

Outbreak was probably

Environmental and was not

Confined to the navajo.

Unfortunately, somebody sort

Of identified this as a navajo

Disease, which it very obviously

Wasn't because we were seeing --

There were other cases occurring

In non-navajos.

But that was particularly

Offensive, I think, to people.

Narrator: when cdc

Investigators compared the

Antibodies from the outbreak

Victims to those in their vast

File of known diseases, they

Made a surprising discovery.

The only sample that was in any

Way similar was one that was 40

Years old.

It was a sample taken from a

Soldier stationed in korea in



During the korean w*r, more than



Fevers and kidney failure.

About 400 died.

Doctors called it "hantavirus"

Because it was traced back to

Korea's hantan river.

That region was home to large

Numbers of striped field mice.

Feces and urine from infected

Mice carried the virus.

When it dried out, it became

Airborne and was then inhaled by

The soldiers.

From there, the virus att*cked

The kidneys.

But investigators were uncertain

Whether this was the same as the

Four corners virus.

There had never been a

Hantavirus reported in

North america, and the

Four corners disease att*cked

The lungs, not the kidneys.

I had no idea what hantavirus

Was and looked in, you know, my

Textbook, which had a very short

Section on it.

And, of course, it describes a

Disease that occurs in asia,

Which sounded nothing like what

We were dealing with.

Narrator: was this the same

Disease?

And if so, how did it travel

From korea to a north american

Indian reservation?

Cdc investigators then

Remembered what they had been

Told by the navajo traditional

Healers.

The medicine men had said

When a remarkably wet winter was

Followed by the masting of the

Pinion trees, when the pinion

Trees put out an abundant supply

Of nuts, the rodent populations

In the state began to grow.

And when that happened, young

Navajo died.

Narrator: investigators

Caught and tested deer mice from

The four corners area.

They found the mice were

Shedding a virus with the same

Dna profile as the virus found

In florena woody and

Merrill bahe.

But the dna profile of this

Virus was not identical to the

Korean hantavirus.

Although the dna profiles were

Similar, the strain from the

Navajo reservation was a new one

Unique to north america.

What we found when we did the

Comparison was that this was a

New hantavirus.

That is, the sequence was far

Enough from any other known

Hantavirus that we were

Convinced that it was a new

Virus.

It wasn't just a minor variant

On one of the old viruses.

Narrator: cdc scientists and

Navajo medicine men suspected

The north american hantavirus

Had been around for centuries.

But since the cases were so

Isolated, it had always been

Misdiagnosed.

The navajo made up a greater

Percentage of the victims only

Because they lived in more rural

Areas with large deer-mice

Populations.

In the two years before the

Outbreak, heavy spring rains

Created a bumper crop of pinion

Nuts, a rich source of food for

The growing mice population.

Authorities believe that

Merrill bahe and florena woody

Inhaled the dried urine and

Fecal matter from the infected

Deer mice when they were

Housecleaning or digging in

Their garden.

In my heart, I think it was

God's will that this is what was

Supposed to happen to both of

Them.

And they were meant for each

Other, and they were meant to go

Together.

Narrator: health officials

Recommend that masks and gloves

Be worn when cleaning rodent

Droppings.

And that people do everything

Possible to keep rodents out of

Their homes.

They also point out that the

Four corners outbreak was

Identified through the wisdom of

The navajo medicine men and the

Scientists who were smart

Enough to listen.

We were discovering an old

Disease that the traditional

Healers had discovered long ago.

And, I think to me, that was the

Most exciting thing about this

Whole investigation.

The navajo, using an entirely

Different approach, looking at

The balance of nature, were able

To identify factors that led

Them to the same conclusion.

That when rodent populations

Explode the way they did in the

Four corners in the spring of



These two very different sets of

People set out on very different

Paths and arrived in the same

Place.