The Obesity Epidemic
By AtlasD
Yentingrad, Russia, April 23-Patient Zero
Viktor Cheryunov sighed. It was getting late, and the experiment was not going well. The Director was getting impatient for results, but this seemed to be at a dead end. Protocol required that all test materials be locked away, but Viktor was tired, needed a cigarette and smoking was prohibited inside the lab. He got up from the lab bench locked the door, and lit a cigarette as he headed for the exit at the end of the corridor. This was also frowned upon, but Viktor was too tired and too frustrated to care. He just wanted to go home.
Tanya Khorkov unlocked the door and dragged the vacuum cleaner into the lab area. It was an old unit, bulky and heavy and would break down frequently. Then she would have to get out a broom and sweep the floors. How ridiculous she thought. All this expensive laboratory equipment and they cannot find a few rubles for a decent vacuum cleaner. Well, at least she had a job. Not a good paying job, but a job just the same.
She switched on the unit and pulled the heavy machine along. Then came the crackling noise she was all too familiar with, the lights flickered and the vacuum machine died. Tanya let out a big sigh. She was supposed to meet her boyfriend tonight at the café. Sweeping the floors would take longer and she would be late. She coiled up the electrical cord, then pulled the now defunct machine out to the corridor. She took a broom from the closet, went back to the lab area and began sweeping. As she rushed through the job, the broom handle hit a rack of test tubes on the lab bench, and it fell to the floor.
The test tubes had been firmly stoppered, but one had broken, leaving a small puddle of clear pinkish fluid on the floor. Now Tanya was worried. The Director got very angry when there was breakage of apparatus. Tanya gently lifted the rack with the unbroken test tubes and placed it back on the bench. She pulled a rag from her apron, and sponged up the fluid, then swept up the broken glass and dumped it into the trash container outside in the hallway. That took care of the mess, but the rack was now missing one test tube which would be glaringly obvious when the lab reopened the next morning. Then Tanya spotted a large flask containing what appeared to be the same fluid. She opened a drawer and pulled out a test tube that matched the others, filled it with fluid from the flask so the level matched the others, stoppered the test tube, and placed it in the rack. She then replaced the stopper in the flask and carefully placed it where she had found it. As she resumed sweeping, Tanya cursed her clumsiness. She was going to be very late for her date....
December16
“May I come in, Director?”
“Yes, Tanya, fine, fine” muttered the Director without looking up. Tanya came in, picked up the wastebasket from beside the Director’s desk. The Director glanced up as she emptied the basket into the rolling wastebin that would later be emptied into the incinerator. Tanya’s secondhand clothes were getting tight again. A seam had already parted in her pants and a roll of fat pushed from underneath her blouse and over the waistband. And how wide her bottom had gotten! What a shame thought the Director. She used to be so pretty and slim, now she has gotten so fat. And only 19 years old. She must be 120 kilos at least...
January 16
Viktor Cheryunov was worried. There was no dismissing the data. There was a pattern. Something, somewhere had gone wrong. The Director would have to be informed. Viktor closed the binder, began walking slowly to the Director’s office, trying to compose this thoughts....
“You wanted to see me Viktor.”
“Yes, Director. Something has come to my attention. I think you should know about it also. We may have an outbreak.” The Director took off his glasses. Viktor knew from past experience this was not a good sign.
“The details?” said the Director.
Viktor cleared his throat. “As you know we have been working on a virus would disrupt the endocrine system. The objective was to create something highly contagious that would also disrupt the metabolic system and be swiftly debilitating to the enemy’s soldiers.”
“Yes, I know of this. Go on.”
“The laboratory rats we tested this on did not manifest the symptoms we had hoped. The metabolic system was disrupted, but not in the way we had expected. “
“You are telling we have a failed experiment?”
Victor now placed a thick binder on the Director’s desk.
“I think the virus has somehow infected some of the staff at the lab. Specifically the female staff. I have noticed a pattern developing. “
“How so?”
Viktor took a breath, then pressed on. “You have seen how big Tanya is getting? She was out sick with a fever and rash for a week last spring. Svetlana, the other custodian. Same thing, out with fever and rash about two weeks after Tanya reported ill. Svetlana has also gained significant weight. Tanya’s sisters also, rash and fever followed a few weeks later by weight gain. Other female staff at the lab are affected as well.”
The Director frowned. “And what is the mechanism of this virus?”
“It seems to affect post pubescent females between the ages of 14 and 45. Phase one is a two week incubation period. This is followed by Phase 2, a blotchy rash and mild fever for 4-7 days. In Phase 3 the host appears asymptomatic, but the virus DNA becomes embedded in the fat cells, which then replicate rapidly. After six weeks this is followed by phase 4 where the virus disrupts the normal metabolism and appetite regulation centers and is followed by rapid and massive weight gain. Even after the final phase small amounts of active virus remain in bodily fluids, including exhalations and perspiration, which enables the virus to be rapidly transmitted to new hosts. The binder contains the details.” Viktor nodded toward the thick binder.
The Director put his glasses on then began leafing through the binder, pausing to examine some documents in detail. Viktor sat and waited.
Forty minutes later, the Director finally spoke. “Viktor, what is the purpose of this facility?”
“To create biological weapons that can be used against our enemies”
The Director took off his glasses, lowered his head and rubbed his temples. “But what you are telling me Viktor is that we have successfully created a highly contagious and resilient organism that makes women fat.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Who knows of this?”
“No one. I thought it should come to your attention first.”
“Keep it that way. This-“ said the Director pointing to the binder, “will be destroyed. Delete any documents you have on your computer. Take all specimens and samples of the virus and destroy them as well.”
“Yes Director.”
“You will mention this to no one. Is that understood”
“Yes Director.”
“Is there anything else?”
Viktor cleared his throat.
The Director frowned. “Yes, Viktor?”
“Dr. Lara Romemenko left six days ago for a genetics conference in Munich.”
“And you think she is carrying the organism”
“Yes Director. She has gained over 20 kilos in the last three months....”
“Is there anything that can be done now?”
“No, Director.”
“Then do as I have told you.”
“Yes, Director.”
July 22
This is the KBC Evening news with Ed Wheeler.
“Good evening. Much has been made of the so called “obesity epidemic” in our country and the developing world, but in Germany today health officials announced what may be a true epidemic of obesity, an actual contagion passed from person to person and that causes rapid weight gain. Our Simon Roberts is in Munich tonight with this special report. Simon-“
“Good evening Ed. German health officials are scrambling to identify what they think is a new virus that affects young females and exhibits unusual symptoms, including sudden, significant and unexplained weight gain. Earlier today, Johanna Kohl from the German Health Ministry held a press conference stating they have detected a pattern of symptomology in the Munich area. This is what she had to say.”
A middle aged blond woman with reading glasses took the lectern started speaking in German. The interpreter voiceover translated:
“The data that is emerging is still very preliminary and incomplete, but enough has been determined that the Health Ministry felt an announcement was in order. The pattern seems to be as follows: The disease first manifests itself by a blotchy rash and a mild fever of about a week’s duration. This followed six weeks later by rapid weight gain. After interviewing several hundred individuals, we have confidence that these two events are related. While the spread of these events is following a pattern typical of spread of a biological organism we do not yet know if a virus or some other form of infectious agent is involved. We have not yet isolated any type of virus.
However, as it is our belief some form of contagion is involved we are asking the public to do the following:
1) Report any instances of a rash accompanied by fever to health officials.
2) If you have had a rash and fever that has been followed by weight gain, we ask that you notify your physician
3) Use precautions in the event that someone in the household becomes ill, and isolate those individuals until the rash and fever subside.
In addition, we ask the following:
· We ask that medical professionals that become aware of these symptoms in patients contact the Ministry of Health
· We ask that any schools and colleges that have students exhibiting these symptoms request the students go home until all symptoms are gone, and to also report all such incidents to the Health Ministry.
We do not know if the weight increase associated with this is permanent or a temporary symptom. However, we do not want people to panic. Importantly no fatalities or serious effects have been reported. Nevertheless, caution requires that we make every effort to contain the spread of these symptoms until we know more about the agent that causes it and how it is spread.”
Simon Roberts came back on the screen. “We have spoken with the CDC, Ed, and they said they are not currently aware of anything like this in the United States. Bulletins have been issued to the medical community to report any unusual symptoms. There are currently no plans in place to screen individuals in airports or to restrict flights from Germany. Ed-“
“Our Simon Roberts in Munich tonight. Thanks Simon. In other news, the Iranian parliament today.......”
Manhattan New York
Dr. Elaine Goldman shut off the television, logged on to her computer and brought up the CDC web site. After she had returned from the genetics conference in Munich, five months ago, she had the very symptoms just described on the news report and listed in the CDC bulletin. That would also explain the 43 pounds she had gained in the last three months and that had been drawing some negative comment from her partner. Now there was an explanation for that- but how long would the gain continue? And she had been in contact with a lot of people since then, at the clinic, the hospital, the subway.... Dr. Goldman picked up the telephone and dialed the number for the CDC.
Student apartment, Fergusson College, Western Pennsylvania
I hit the mute button as Simon Roberts concluded his report and a commercial came on. Stacie looked up from her textbook. “That is weird” she said. “Whatever that stuff is, I hope it doesn’t come over here.”
“It’s pretty tough to isolate anything in the jet age” I said- “remember Ebola?”
“But a virus that causes weight gain? That sounds like every woman’s nightmare.”
“Who knows if there is even a connection? It sounds like a lot of speculation if you ask me.”
“We’ll see” said Stacie.
August 5
This is the KBC Evening news with Ed Wheeler.
“Good evening. It’s here and it looks like it has been here from some time. The mysterious disease first reported in Germany, rash, fever, followed by weight gain is in the United States, and according to the CDC it has been here weeks or even months. It is a virus and now has an official name, ECN14, also known as Munich Metabolic Syndrome or MMS. Our Simon Roberts broke this story, and now has more details. Simon-“
Simon Roberts came on the screen standing in from of CDC headquarters. “Good evening Ed- According to the CDC, Munich Metabolic Syndrome, or MMS is in the United States and has probably been here for up to six months. The CDC stated that medical professionals traveling in Germany may have contracted and carried the virus back to the United States without realizing it. Given the two week incubation period, and the minor initial symptoms, rash and mild fever, people simply did not connect these with the later phase of the disease-rapid weight gain- especially when six weeks often separated the two events. It was only when medical personnel in New York read the bulletins from the CDC that the dots connected. According to the CDC, at least 220 people in the New York metropolitan area have reported symptoms. Outbreaks are also reported in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston and the CDC expects there will be many more.
Apparently scientists in Germany have isolated the virus, but still have no idea how it works, how it is transmitted, and if a vaccine can be developed. And until medical scientists have a better idea how the virus is transmitted, it will be impossible to come up with measures to try and contain the disease. And, off the record, one CDC official told me that after being in this country for six weeks, it will be nearly impossible to contain the virus. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and he expects more hot spots will be reported in the days ahead. Ed-“
Ed Wheeler now reappeared on the screen. “Thank you Simon. President Lucida Perez will address the nation on this issue tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern. We will carry her address live. Moving on to the Middle East, there was more unrest in the West Bank today.....”
Situation Room -The White House
“OK Charles, what do you have for me.”
Charles David Wadsworth, Boston Brahmin, former heard of Boston General Hospital and the current head of the CDC, opened the screen presentation. “Madame President, members of the cabinet, the chart on this slide shows our best estimate of how we anticipate the virus to spread over the next six months. It is our opinion that unless effective quarantine and countermeasures can be found, essentially every individual potentially at risk will have contracted this disease by the end of this year.”
“And do we have any effective measures to combat this?” the President queried.
Wadsworth paused. “Frankly speaking Madame President- we do not. Nor do the Germans who have been dealing with this the longest.”
“How long?”
“They think about eight months”
“Do the Germans have any idea where it came from?”
“It seemed to start with medical personnel, which implies it was contracted by a medical professional from an ill person. It seemed to originate in the Munich are. Beyond that they really don’t know. The incubation period and long delay between the fever phase and weight gain phase confused things terribly. We may never find a ‘patient zero’”
The Surgeon General spoke up at this point. “What course does the disease seem to run? We know about the rash and the weight gain. Are there any other manifestations we don’t know about?”
Wadsworth quickly scanned through his laptop. “We don’t know if anything else happens beyond the weight gain phase. We don’t know if the weight gain – which is substantial- is a temporary symptom or a permanent aftereffect.”
The Surgeon General followed up. “You say substantial- how substantial?”
“We don’t know that yet either. In Germany there is now a small population in which the disease seems to have run its course. In that population, the typical course seems to be a doubling of original body weight with some outliers.”
“Do you have specific numbers?”
“In one case study where the weight gain seems to have run its course, one 20 year old female went from 141 pounds to 302. The range seems to be 2.2 to 2.4 time original body weight. Keep in mind this is based on very limited sample data. This is also very preliminary, but there seems to be some correlation between the length of the rash/fever phase and the weight gain. The longer the rash and fever last, the more weight gained in the next phase.”
“The population affected seems consistent?”
“Yes- post pubescent females generally between the ages of 14 and 45, although there are a few outliers. Apparently hormone levels greatly influence susceptibility.”
President Perez spoke up. “What about the virus itself? Do we know where it came from?”
The National Security Advisor spoke. “ The virus has some unusual characteristics. A similar virus was studied by the U. S. Armey bioweapons team as a possible bioweapons agent.”
“I hope you are not saying this is something we did.” said President Perez.
“Absolutely not. That program was abandoned as initial results were not promising. We never had anything that came close to fruition, and nothing that comes close to matching the genetic signature of this virus. There were some common characteristics, but very few.”
President Perez frowned. “If it wasn’t us, do you think there is some other state actor behind this? Is this some sort of biological warfare experiment that went bad?”
“We just don’t know. The virus has some unusual characteristics, but so far we haven’t found any markers to indicate this was artificially produced.”
The President turned her attention back to the head of the CDC. “Charles, you said so far no one has come up with effective quarantine measures?”
“If anybody could do it, the Germans could, and so far they haven’t been able to keep a lid on this. It’s already spread through most of Europe. Even Russia has had reports.”
“Nothing promising in the way of a cure, anti virals, a vaccine- Something- Anything?
“Unfortunately Madame President- No. We are working on it of course, but it will take time.”
“Mr. Wadsworth…” Everyone at the table stiffened at this. President Perez only used formal address in the gravest of situations.
“Mr. Wadsworth” repeated President Perez. “You understand I have to go before the American people tomorrow night and tell them we have no effective means for dealing with this. There are a lot of young women out there who are scared about what is going to happen to them, a lot of parents who are worried about their daughters. “
“Yes Madame President. We are doing everything we can.”
“ You know also I have three daughters, and one of them is in the at risk population.”
Normally cool urbane and unflappable, Charles David Wadsworth looked like he was about to choke.
“Yes Madame President,” he repeated. “We are doing everything we can.”
September 8
The baritone announcer made his usual introduction to the news. “This is the KBC Evening news with Ed Wheeler.”
A thin young Asian woman was at the anchor desk. “ Good evening, I’m Lori Ling. Ed Wheeler is off tonight.”
“We start with the latest on the Munich Metabolic Syndrome virus and its aftermath. The family of actress Rita Hayden is in mourning tonight after the Hollywood starlet apparently committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. According to authorities, Hayden left a note saying she was despondent about her weight gain due to MMS and the loss of her acting career. This is the latest of a number of suicides reported in the aftermath of this virus, some by women as young as 16. Simon Roberts reports.”
Simon Roberts came of the screen standing outside a Los Angeles hospital. “Good evening Lori. Sadly, this is the latest of about a dozen suicides reported this year as due to the substantial weight gain because of MMS. Hayden was typical, young, only 23, and very proud of her slender figure. Dr. Whitney Evans explains how this disease profoundly affects the mental health of young women. Dr. Evans—“
Dr. Whitney Evans was a graying smartly dressed woman with wire rim glasses. “Simon, It’s not only the weight gain; it’s also the fact that it takes place so suddenly and so quickly. Most young women more than double their body weight due to the virus, and when this takes place in as little as six months the shock to their body image is profound. It provides no time to adjust to their new body size and circumstances. If the weight gain happened slowly, over a course of years instead of months, there is time to adapt and cope to the new circumstance.”
Simon asked, “Any advice for our viewers?”
Dr. Evans spoke toward the camera. “There are support groups that are forming. If you are despondent or know someone that is, look up a local support group and join. If you have just been diagnosed with MMS, join a support group. There will be women there who have led the way, been through this and who have come up with coping strategies they can share.”
Simon Roberts closed the interview. “Thank you Dr. Evans. Back to you Lori-“
“Thank you Simon-“
Lori Ling came back on the screen. “On a related note, clinical trials on what was hoped to be an antidote for MMS were stopped today after a third death was reported in clinical trials. Our medical correspondent Dr. Rajiv Kumar reports.”
Dr. Kumar was a solemn looking man who looked a bit young for a doctor, and was wearing a lab coat. He seemed unaccustomed to television interviews, and looked as if he had something serious to say. “A.F. Berkley Pharmaceuticals announced it has stopped clinical trials on the most promising drug found so far in the battle against ECN14, the virus that causes Munich Metabolic Syndrome. In early studies carboxaryl acetimide or was shown to be effective in suppressing reproduction of the virus. Spurred on by the Perez Administration and the CDC, clinical trials were conducted despite concerns about liver toxicity. Of 24 volunteers who contracted MMS and were in various stages of progression with the disease, all 24 exhibited impaired liver function. After the third death in these clinical trials, all work has been suspended until further notice.”
Dr. Kumar concluded “I want to add a warning. There have been some web sites popping up advertising a “cure” for MMS. I cannot emphasize this enough- there is no cure. Anybody who claims they can cure MMS is a fraud, and I urge people not to be taken in. None of these so called cures has been found to be effective, and a few could actually cause harm.”
Lori Ling closed the segment. “Dr. Rajiv Kumar, sound advice. Thank you.”
October 13- Fergusson College, Western Pennsylvania
What are you going to do? I asked Stacie. The virus had now reached campus, and while campus officials were trying to forestall panic, classrooms were virtually empty of female students, who were holed up in their dorm rooms or gone home.
“What can I do” said Stacie. “No vaccine, no quarantine, nothing seems to work. The CDC has had eight months to get a grip on this and they have come up with nothing. Some have tried isolation and contracted the virus anyway. It’s all over the place, no point in leaving campus- there’s no place to go, unless I go to the moon. I can’t go live in a cave until they come up with something . It could be years. The President says we need to stay calm and carry on with our lives. Like she said, no one has died of this.”
“Are you going to go to class?”
“I might as well” said Stacie. “What else can I do?”
One week later
I was in class when Stacie texted me. “Its here”. She came home after classes with the announcement. “It’s here Brian. In economics lecture, this morning. There was a girl sitting in the absolute front row of the lecture hall and she had the rash. Poor thing, almost every other girl took one look at her and ran back out of the hall.”
“But you didn’t?”
“I did not. What’s the point? I marched right down there, shook her hand and said we were all in this together. You and I have both been watching the news, doing the research online. Nothing has been able to stop this, and the other girls are only delaying the inevitable by a few days at best. We know this has been coming for months now, so I figured get it over with.”
I gave Stacie a big hug. “I have to admire your courage.”
“Yeah, well let’s hope you still admire me after the weight gain phase. There are going to be some changes ahead for both of us”.
“I love you Stacie- you know that. A lot of other couples are getting through this. We can too.”
