In the late '60s, the Surgeon General of the United States said
that we were closing in on the worldwide eradication of
infectious 'There were no known treatments': Dr. Jerry P. Jaax
told stories of the frightening Ebola outbreak in Reston, Va.,
that spread from a research facility of 500 monkeys and inspired
a best-selling book and film. Since, then, says Dr. Jerry P.
Jaax, the world has faced "HIV, SARS, AIDS, tuberculosis (TB),
drug-resistant TB, exotic pests, Nipah virus, hantavirus, West
Nile virus, drug-resistant pathogens, Ebola, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE), Lyme disease, and that doesn't even take
into account what somebody might do on purpose. When it comes to
emerging infectious disease and bioterrorism, we have a lot of
work to do," he adds. Jaax should know. In fact, he and his wife
Nancy Jaax confronted an Ebola virus outbreak in Reston, Va.
Their work inspired a best-selling book titled "The Hot Zone,"
which ultimately inspired the film "Outbreak." According to
Jerry Jaax, the Reston