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.
04x12 - With Every Breath
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.