ReGenesis s04e04 Episode Script
The Kiss
There's something about what I've done where I've been I just don't know, David.
Roth was doing something in a secret lab for 3 months, doing something with Bob, and Bob can't remember anything about it! Anything else come back to you ? I was with someone.
That same woman.
We've had multiple cases of intravenous drug users dying of liver failure.
Is an existing Hep C going into overdrive, or are we dealing with something we've never seen? I've been infected.
I'm proof the needles were tainted.
Jesus.
We're looking at the wrong needles.
You were stuck with a blood collection needle.
- What? - One of the IDUs didn't want to get his blood tested and I got caught in the struggle.
I just got a positive from the Division of Health's blood collecting needles.
Somebody in this lab murdered 35 people and hung a death sentence around hundreds of others.
It's you.
Jesus, you did it, didn't you? Your blood work came back.
It's the Hep C super strain.
Oh, shit.
Do I have to get a restraining order? I appreciate the dedication, Wes, but you're sick.
I was feeling fine until I saw you, David.
You should be in a hospital.
At least go home and get some rest.
- I got a - Super Hep C, HIV.
- Am I missing any letters? - call from Riddlemeyer last night.
You're on the largest dose of interferon and ribavirin known to man.
I know that's gotta make you feel like shit.
It does, but I'd rather feel like shit at work than at home.
But thanks for feigning concern.
All right.
Anything new on Cove? Police searched his house and his cottage.
They didn't find anything.
I'll take a look at the security tapes from his lab.
That's all I'm saying, all right? Anyway, what's Carl got his underwear in a knot for? There's an unusually high incidence of brain inflammation in Michigan.
Tell 'em to stop watching professional wrestling.
The local doctor thought that it was bacterial meningitis.
Now he thinks it's progressive multifocal - leukoencepha - Encephalopathy? That's PML.
What's he going to think it is tomorrow? I don't know.
Ask him.
He's got 11 people on the verge of death.
You and Carlos are on the 12:10 to Iron River.
Is everybody at the CDC on vacation? You're staying at Mabel's Motel.
I understand they just got color television.
Great.
- You look good.
- She's lying.
Shut up.
It's just hard to believe we're dealing with a PML epidemic.
It's caused by a very common virus.
Only people whose immune systems aren't working get sick, like organ transplant recipients or Cancer, AIDS - Your patients' immune system are fine.
- What are the other symptoms? Progressive weakness, visual and speech deterioration.
And eventually you get ataxia, paralysis and coma.
We think it's spreading.
Contagious PML? That's not possible.
Look, I'm sorry, Dr.
Kavanaugh, but we're gonna have to start with the assumption that your lab tests are all screwed, because if they're not, we are.
Now you know why we called you.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea, Icefre@k Linwelin, Michvanilly, MiKL Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 Oxford's still in animal trials on their Hep C cure, but they gave me the name of a Dutch scientist, so I'm on my way to Amsterdam.
I got a lead on some new HCV research and How did it go with the cannabinoid inhibitor treatment? Good.
Good.
It went good.
- Good but not great.
- No, it was fine.
I just want to check out this thing in Amsterdam.
Apparently they're using these these engineered red blood cells to have HCV receptors in them.
You there? You wanna hear how it works? Not really.
Wes, have you started the antidepressants? Rachel, I need to take a pill just to remember all the pills I need to take.
Depression is a serious side effect of interferon and you're on a massive dose, so you I'm fine.
Don't worry about it.
Okay, listen I'm gonna call you from Amsterdam, but I want you to call me if you wanna talk, okay? Anytime.
I mean it.
The other line is ringing, Rachel.
I gotta go.
Anyway, he doesn't want to go home.
Keep an eye on him, 'cause Wes doesn't know how bad off he is.
Bob's been checking on him practically every half hour.
Don't worry about him, David.
It's very unlike you.
You're right.
So how's it going down there? Seem to be doing all the right tests.
Blood work confirms everything he said.
The CAT scans show lesions and that says PML.
PML is caused by the JC virus, right? Correct.
80% of the population has JC in them.
In normal people, the virus hangs out in the brain Yeah, and it's kept in check by the body's immune system.
But if your immune system goes on the fritz, it gets a chance to go to town and it dissolves your brain.
But I thought you said these people, their immune systems are fine.
They are.
That's what's unexplainable.
What the hell is happening here? What if the JC is not causing the disease, but is triggered by it? A by-product.
That's an interesting idea.
I'm going to check for infectious agents.
I'll collect blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid.
- Start with Patient Zero.
- Right.
Hey, Mayko, can you switch me over to Bob? Yeah, sure.
Hey, Bob.
Hello.
Samples will be there tonight.
Let me know when they arrive.
It'll be marked what to do.
I want everything started tonight.
We should be back in TO by late morning.
- Sure.
No problem.
- How are you doing? I'm OK.
No temperature.
Fewer headaches.
- Take it easy.
- I'm fine, David.
You keeping an eye on Wes? - He's very depressed, David.
- Yeah, I know, Mayko told me.
Listen, just talk to him.
That's really the best thing.
Talking.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Hello, Weston.
Hi, Bob.
Beautiful day, isn't it? Yeah.
Cirrus castellanus are my favourite clouds.
I especially love the "towers" of cirrus, connected by a thinner base.
My eyes are bleeding, Bob.
They've been bleeding all morning.
It's a side effect of the interferon.
My eyes are bleeding.
And my HIV's gonna turn to AIDS, Bob.
Don't worry about it.
Why don't we go downstairs and I'll get some tea? I can make you your favourite sandwich and we can sit down to talk That'd be nice, Bob.
Let's go.
I'll meet you downstairs, okay? Come on, let's go.
I just need a minute by myself, Bob.
I'll be down.
I I can't leave you up This is a spinal fluid tap.
I know after a few days in the hospital, you'll feel a bit like a pincushion.
Hey, Dad.
Excuse me I'm his daughter.
Maybe you can help me.
- Could you finish up, please? - Yes, Doctor.
I'm Dr.
Carlos Serrano.
Marie Gervais.
- Your father was the first to get sick? - Three weeks ago.
I've never even heard of progressive multi Focal leukoencephalopathy.
PML.
It's very rare.
Why my dad? He was healthy.
He never smoked.
Rarely drinks.
Has he done anything different lately, been anywhere, changed his routine at all? No.
Oh he doesn't go hunting anymore.
Why? When our dog got hit when she died, he took it pretty bad.
I see.
Listen my dad's pretty upset because everyone thinks he made everyone else sick.
We don't even know if it's contagious, and if it is contagious, then someone gave it to him, right? Look Here's my cell.
Call me if you have any questions.
Okay.
Thanks.
How're we making out? Hang on a second.
What? What? Ah, fuck Okay.
" laughter from the gallery.
"Rathin had traveled 3,100 miles around a concrete block in Queens" Hey, David.
Carlos.
It's mainly his left side.
Fractured distal tibia, - broken femur but he's going to be OK.
- Any internal damage? They've done preliminaries, but no word yet.
He's scheduled for a full body scan tomorrow morning.
They took him off interferon.
David, the HCV will close in now.
It's just a matter of time.
I should've stopped him.
I didn't know what to say.
Bob, this had nothing to do with you.
I know, David.
- Could you take Bob back to my place? - Yeah.
Later, Bob.
Must've died and gone to hell.
You're interrupting me in the middle of an online Scrabble game.
Does Rachel know? Oh yeah.
How'd she take it? The fact that you tried to commit suicide or the fact that you're still alive? She took it on the chin, like she does everything.
How's he doing? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to ask that.
How you doing, Wes? Lotta pain, I hope.
I'm good.
Nice and doped up, thanks.
Think you're ready for a little water? Maybe you'd like to help.
Oh, sure.
Thanks.
All right, Wes.
Okay.
Got an email from Rachel last night, as a matter of fact.
Discovered some interesting work being done on HCV in Amsterdam.
Very, very encouraged.
- I wish I had a camera.
- Why? I don't think anybody's ever seen you be nice to me, David.
Don't get used to it.
Okay, what's with this mysterious email you sent me? Wes requested surveillance tapes from Toronto Division of Health.
Watch this.
This is the back of Cove's lab.
Just wait.
That's Cove.
What's he taking out of there? - Tainted blood collection kits, maybe? - It's hard to prove from this tape.
Maybe we can find them.
He had to have hid them someplace.
No, he would have thrown them out by now.
- David, we don't have to find them.
- Why? This is from last Sunday, after the lab was declared a crime scene.
Obstruction of justice? Okay Good work, Mayko.
Thank you.
- Ready? - Yeah.
Two minutes.
Bob.
Conference room.
Bob? Conference room.
Conference room.
- How was your check up? - I'm going tomorrow.
You still on the chloramphenicol? Yeah, portable pump delivers - 24 hours a day.
- Jesus.
Kind of toxic to be on an IV of the stuff, isn't it? It's effective on penetrating the blood-brain barrier.
You don't want the cure to do more damage than the problem.
How is Weston? Hangin' in there.
Whaddaya got on Iron River? The CAT scan and the cerebrospinal fluid still indicate progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
- Blood work? - No rabies, no viral meningitis pathology comes up negative on everything.
Preliminary environmental tests came back negative on air and soil.
Some well water samples contained low levels of PCBs and mercury.
Here's the data.
You'll have the results on the full matrix of tests Monday PM.
The MRI's confirm lesions in the brain.
We have a disease that's affecting people who should be able to fight it and it seems to be spreading when it shouldn't.
That's about it.
But why? What's triggering it? We're testing for West Nile, St.
Louis, Western Equine encephalopathy We have the university labs running down the usual vectors they're testing local mosquitoes, ticks, parasites.
Good.
Bob, could you run PCR diagnostics for Bob? Could you run PCR diagnostic tests on measles, mumps, rubella, EBV and chickenpox? Are we that desperate? Yeah.
Let's get to work.
Not you, Bob.
Are you all right? You got a headache or I'm experiencing strange memories.
Like what? They're surreal, but I'm there again.
- Where? - Roth's lab.
Except it's deserted.
Okay.
Anything else? See, I'm trying to remember what happened at Roth's lab, but it's like I'm reliving it but I'm awake.
Okay It may just be you still have swelling on your brain, okay? Make sure you tell all this to your neurologist tomorrow.
I had a thought about Iron River.
Parasites, like toxoplasmosis, can also cause brain inflammation in people with weakened immune systems.
I'll look into that.
Yeah.
Good idea.
Thanks, Bob.
See that, Bob? That might be some residual pus.
If it is, the antibiotics still haven't cleared up the infection.
- It's not spreading.
- No, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.
If it's infected, I need to drain it.
No more surgery.
I need to go in and examine it.
If it's infected, I can find the best antibiotic to kill the infection.
I'm having these memories hallucinations.
Even some mild swelling can cause that.
How bad? It's affecting my work.
I can't sleep.
I can't concentrate.
I heard about this drug called Imipramine It's an anti-depressant that has good effects with post-traumatic stress.
Will it block all my memories? You know the drill different subjects, different reactions.
I wanna try it.
Patient Zero, Gervais, died last night.
Two young girls, twins, slipped into a coma and another three admitted to hospital.
Environmental update just came in.
They found traces of vinyl chloride.
That's been connected to brain cancer, hasn't it? Cancer yes, not conclusively linked to brain cancer.
- Didn't we drive by a landfill site? - Yeah.
Hair sprays and aerosols used to contain vinyl chloride.
A lot of vinyl chloride comes from the breakdown of TCE, - stuff in dry cleaning.
- Also computer chips.
- Have we looked at the manufacturing? - There is no manufacturing.
Inbreeding is starting to sound like a very good possibility.
No.
I did a genome-wide SNP analysis of all the patients.
No obvious links between them.
Why aren't we seeing PML in any other towns? Why just Iron River? What's so special about Iron River? What? Yeah.
Really? He wants to make a deal? Why don't you tell Dr.
Cove to go fuck himself? Don't even ask.
I'm sorry.
Wes, it was the drugs.
I just couldn't keep myself together.
I just I've never felt so out of control.
- I don't - Oh, stop.
Stop.
You're freezing I don't want to be in this bed I don't want to die, Rachel.
You're not gonna die.
Tell me the truth.
The cannabinoid treatment in London I'm still not sure about it.
What about the Amsterdam treatment? It's too experimental.
So that's it? Without treatment, the HCV is gonna double every 12 hours.
With the interferon, I'm throwing myself off the roof.
Give me the Amsterdam treatment.
It's not just unproven - it could be dangerous.
- Without it, I'm gonna die, Rachel.
Do it.
Give me the treatment.
You gotta give me hope.
There is one more possibility.
In Germany I was talking with some people in Berlin and it looks promising Give me the treatment.
I'll look into it.
Okay? I love you, Rachel.
You're not gonna die.
So I've been analyzing our DNA sequence data from the Iron River patients.
I got a hit on some non-human DNA.
- It's an unknown virus.
- How long to complete the genome? In about an hour.
Hey, guys.
Is everything okay? - Can I talk to you for a minute? - Yes.
I met with Dr.
Van de Moortel in Amsterdam.
How's she doing? She sends her fondest.
Her fondest, eh? How's Anika looking these days? You know, gorgeous.
I let that one slip away.
I should call her.
- She just got engaged.
- I'll wait 6 months.
What's she up to? Basically, her lab has engineered red blood cells to express CD81.
It's a cell-surface receptor for the HCV.
So, the Hep C virus attaches itself to the modified red blood cells, it thinks it's some liver, crawls inside and it's trapped and HCV can't replicate in red blood cells.
Can't get out.
This is very clever.
Very.
Very clever.
But, of course, lots of potential problems.
Like what happens if his body rejects the engineered cells? It's working in the mice.
Yeah, I know.
They hope to start human trials in 18 months.
Wes doesn't have 18 days.
Yeah.
I know.
No, he can't wait.
But you don't wanna kill him, though, either, right? - We need to do something.
- Is this the right "something"? I don't know! I don't have another "something.
" This is the best It might also be the worst, Rachel.
I know.
I told Wes.
He wants to do it.
There is one other possibility.
There is? - You know Cove's in custody, right? - Yeah? He's charged with second-degree murder for tainting the needles with HCV.
I got a call today.
He wants to make a deal.
He says he has a cure.
I think he's full of shit.
But I'm setting something up.
And there she goes.
No exact match.
- We've discovered a new virus.
- Cool.
What are its closest relatives? Okay: baboon cytomegalovirus to our unknown virus.
Human cytomegalovirus - 94% genetic similarity.
- So our unknown virus, I think we can conclude, is in the cytomegalovirus family.
Wait.
Look at this.
These are short stretches of DNA.
But 100% matches.
Canine DNA? It's from the Dog Genome Project.
Oh, shit.
You know what they did? They thought they were just sequencing dog DNA, but they ended up sequencing viral DNA that was in the dogs' cells.
Which means that our mystery virus Comes from dogs.
One problem Canine CMV has not been found.
Well, - maybe we found it.
- Who are you calling? I used to date a vet.
Probably the only woman who ever understood you.
Virginia.
David Sandstrà m.
Professional call.
I'm gonna put you on speaker.
Virginia, what do you know about canine CMV? Nothing.
We don't see it, Sandstrà m.
Yeah, I know.
There must be thousands of viruses that you haven't identified.
Is canine CMV theoretically possible? Absolutely, but if a canine CMV exists, it would have to be benign.
The nasty ones, we identify.
So I guess the answer is: Sure, it could and probably does exist.
That's the answer I wanted.
You and I should get together some Whatever.
But this virus is not benign, David.
In humans.
I'm betting it is in dogs.
Valganciclovir works on human CMV.
If it works on canine CMV, we'll be able to stop this thing.
It's worth a try.
- Thank you for coming.
- Let's just hope it's worth our time.
I don't generally visit mass murderers.
So what have you got? Are you capable of making a deal? No, but the people who can want us to make sure you're not full of shit.
Sorry about your administrator.
Why? Because he's not a junkie? It's okay to kill junkies, but not to kill other people, right? Perhaps we can talk about my cure? - Piece of shit! - Stop it! Stop! It's okay.
We're okay.
Why the fuck should we believe you've got a cure? Because I had to watch my daughter suffer with HCV for 5 years.
- So I did everything I could.
- But you do have a cure.
Yes.
Toll receptors.
I was working on a cure with Toll receptor activators.
It's a drug that convinces the immune system it's under attack.
We know what Toll receptors are.
But did you get them fighting a Hep C virus? Yes.
Lot of people playing in that yard.
The trials are failing.
Not my trials.
Success rates are in the teens.
I got 64% before I quit.
With mice.
With humans.
Want to get more specific? Sure.
As soon as you get me out of this place.
We're gonna need some proof.
How would you like to look at my lab books? I tested for the CMV you sent me and found it in 5 of the 9 dogs currently in my clinic.
- Are they sick with it? - No.
But all 5 have Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour.
It's a communicable dog cancer, where dogs pass cancer to one another? Right, through sex, licking, biting.
I have a list of the PML patients do any of the 5 dogs belong to them? Ted Wynn His dog Fergie had communicable dog cancer and died about a month ago.
And Sally Cawthra.
Her dog Dixie was sick with it but recovered.
- I didn't know she was sick.
- Just admitted.
Where do you think the outbreak started? Gervais, Patient Zero, did his dog have it? Boomer? No.
Not that I know of.
Now that we know of.
True.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
Yeah, David, it's me.
I think you'd better get back to Iron River as soon as possible.
Call me back.
We tested All our patients have the canine CMV you sent.
We also tried the drug you suggested.
On the twins.
They're improving.
Finally, some good news.
She's in there.
Oh, and by the way, nice haircut.
Marie, I'm so sorry I guess it is contagious.
But you did not get this from your father.
No one did.
Marie Gervais, this is my colleague, - David Sandstrà m.
- Hey.
We think your dog passed this virus on to you and your father.
Boomer? She was never sick.
- She got hit by a truck and died.
- Well, we talked to your vet.
She said Boomer had 30 stitches in June, what was that all about? She got into a fight with something in the woods.
Her face got bit up pretty bad.
My dad thought it was a wolf maybe.
Why? Marie, where's Boomer buried? We're gonna have to exhume the body.
Hey.
Bob.
There's leftovers.
Great.
- Sorry for the mess.
- No problem.
Your email sounded like the trip was successful.
Maybe.
You know how it is.
What about you? Your hallucinations Any improvement with the Imipramine? You know the woman I was thinking about? I was heading home from work and I smelled jasmine I think it was Jasminum grandiflorum And I looked out across the street She was walking along, so beautiful I think she saw me, but I wasn't sure.
So I stepped off She wasn't there.
Or I couldn't find her and Or maybe she was never there Bob, that kind of thing happens to everybody.
I'm fine, David.
Okay.
It's all new to me.
Sure.
You still don't know anything about her? I can draw her.
I think Da Vinci was wrong.
You can paint what you haven't seen.
I read about this Turkish painter who was blind all his life.
He painted mounts, and lakes, and faces and butterflies, with perspective and shadow And they tested him in New York to see how the brain and other senses construct images.
So maybe Maybe that's what you're doing.
Maybe that's what I'm doing.
And this is what she looks like? Yes.
She's pretty.
I wish I knew who she was.
Well, now you know what she looks like.
That's good.
That's great.
We should celebrate.
Imipramine is not a great thing to mix with alcohol and antibiotics.
Who said one of these is for you? - Morning.
- Hey, David, wanna take a look? What is it? - Communicable dog cancer.
- She had it! If she had not been hit by the car, she would have a cancer.
What about the virus? Rachel said she had two more minutes.
That was half an hour ago.
There you are.
I found the canine CMV in Boomer.
Right in the cancer cells.
There you go! Boomer must have infected all the other dogs, eh? What's that? Cove really was running trials.
Shows excellent results, for a cocktail that he uses with a toll receptor drug.
Great news.
The cocktail includes ribavirin, interferon and a protease inhibitor, but he does not list the details of the toll receptor drug.
Don't worry about that.
I'll get it out of him.
- Five minutes in a room with me - David.
He's dead.
- Cove is dead.
- What? Yeah.
Some inmates, where he was in custody Mimico or somewhere - They heard what he'd done and - Aw, fuck.
In the showers They apparently needed his dental records to identify him.
Rachel, I'm sorry.
We were so close.
- You need to take some time here.
- No.
No, I We're proving that a dog with cancer can lick you and give you some disease that dissolves your brain.
It's really just the kind of distraction that I need.
We still have to nail transmission.
How does it get from a cancer cell on your lip into your brain? How does it enter? Mayko! Stay right there.
I want you to go into the database on the Iron River patients and see what their physical condition was like I'm looking for cuts, open sores, cold sores, chapped lips, cracked lips, that sort of thing.
Got ya.
How does it get from a cancer cell on your lip into your brain? How does it enter? Mayko! Stay right there.
I want you to Rachel? You wanted to have a meeting about the canine CMV? - Um yeah.
- You okay? I need to ask a favour.
Sure.
What's up? You know this decoy receptor treatment we're thinking about for Wes? David's mentioned it.
What do you think? I'm not a haematologist.
What do you think? What does Wes say? Wes wants it.
But David thinks it might be too risky.
It is.
It is.
But if I were Wes, I would do it.
Yeah, me too.
I want you to show me how to administer the treatment.
And I need to know how to administer the decoy treatment myself.
- Rachel, listen to me - Will you show me how to do this? It would take an oversight board at least 7 days to make a decision.
They'll never want to give you the OK.
So what else can I do? Yeah.
Thank you.
Good luck.
You're beautiful.
You ready? You sure you wanna go through with this, Wes? 'Cause Yeah.
Just do it.
Okay.
You understand the risks, right? And you're sure you understand how these engineered red blood cells will work.
You've explained it 3 times already, Rachel.
If it works, we should see a reduction in viral load in about 4 hours.
So? Well, of the original 9 patients in Iron River, - and 4 worked outside.
- That works for me.
Working outdoors causes cracked lips.
Everybody else had open wounds.
- Where are you going with this? - Cancer cells replicate like crazy, and dogs pass them one to another.
CMV is a hitchhiker.
It crawls into the cancer cells and lets it do all the work for it: replication.
And then the dogs transmit it from one to the other, - dog goes to lick somebody - Virus crawls out of the cancer cell into an open cut and enters into the body And then you die.
So, is this a freak occurrence in Iron River? Like, should I stop making out with dogs? Dunno.
We'd have to find a really smart post-doc to spend the next 5 years helping us figure it out.
What about the PML patients? Antivirals can stop the infection; the problem is, when you realize somebody's got it, damage to the brain has already happened and can't be undone.
When all this is over, I'm renting us a room at the Four Seasons in Papagayo, Costa Rica.
Just the two of us.
Common Wes! Help! I need somebody in here! He's not breathing! Take it easy.
It's okay.
I need someone now! Take it easy.
Take it easy.
Just relax.
Did you read this? The girl poisoned in Ottawa? She's the daughter of city council Randall Oberman.
He's trying to stop the construction of a mosque.
- It's got the Muslim all over him.
- He thinks they poisoned his daughter? Some boys, Arabs, Muslim kids, have been taunting her at school and defaced her locker.
If she dies Homeland Security commissioned to come up with a cure in case of a smallpox attack.
Homeland wants NorBAC's opinion on which drug to use.
Is it contagious, Captain? Should the military stop the inoculation program? No, it's not contagious.
Not true.
Marianne caught it from her husband, so technically it is contagious.
A kiss did this? You better look at it fast.
They may have called us too late.
He doesn't have months.
We'll make him as comfortable as we can.
You're a mess.
I know you're not gonna give up on me.
I don't think he's gonna make it.
We'll think of something.
Roth was doing something in a secret lab for 3 months, doing something with Bob, and Bob can't remember anything about it! Anything else come back to you ? I was with someone.
That same woman.
We've had multiple cases of intravenous drug users dying of liver failure.
Is an existing Hep C going into overdrive, or are we dealing with something we've never seen? I've been infected.
I'm proof the needles were tainted.
Jesus.
We're looking at the wrong needles.
You were stuck with a blood collection needle.
- What? - One of the IDUs didn't want to get his blood tested and I got caught in the struggle.
I just got a positive from the Division of Health's blood collecting needles.
Somebody in this lab murdered 35 people and hung a death sentence around hundreds of others.
It's you.
Jesus, you did it, didn't you? Your blood work came back.
It's the Hep C super strain.
Oh, shit.
Do I have to get a restraining order? I appreciate the dedication, Wes, but you're sick.
I was feeling fine until I saw you, David.
You should be in a hospital.
At least go home and get some rest.
- I got a - Super Hep C, HIV.
- Am I missing any letters? - call from Riddlemeyer last night.
You're on the largest dose of interferon and ribavirin known to man.
I know that's gotta make you feel like shit.
It does, but I'd rather feel like shit at work than at home.
But thanks for feigning concern.
All right.
Anything new on Cove? Police searched his house and his cottage.
They didn't find anything.
I'll take a look at the security tapes from his lab.
That's all I'm saying, all right? Anyway, what's Carl got his underwear in a knot for? There's an unusually high incidence of brain inflammation in Michigan.
Tell 'em to stop watching professional wrestling.
The local doctor thought that it was bacterial meningitis.
Now he thinks it's progressive multifocal - leukoencepha - Encephalopathy? That's PML.
What's he going to think it is tomorrow? I don't know.
Ask him.
He's got 11 people on the verge of death.
You and Carlos are on the 12:10 to Iron River.
Is everybody at the CDC on vacation? You're staying at Mabel's Motel.
I understand they just got color television.
Great.
- You look good.
- She's lying.
Shut up.
It's just hard to believe we're dealing with a PML epidemic.
It's caused by a very common virus.
Only people whose immune systems aren't working get sick, like organ transplant recipients or Cancer, AIDS - Your patients' immune system are fine.
- What are the other symptoms? Progressive weakness, visual and speech deterioration.
And eventually you get ataxia, paralysis and coma.
We think it's spreading.
Contagious PML? That's not possible.
Look, I'm sorry, Dr.
Kavanaugh, but we're gonna have to start with the assumption that your lab tests are all screwed, because if they're not, we are.
Now you know why we called you.
ReGenesis Team NorBAC Bbsiocnarf, Dapitch666, Enelea, Icefre@k Linwelin, Michvanilly, MiKL Transcript Version NoTag 1.
0 Oxford's still in animal trials on their Hep C cure, but they gave me the name of a Dutch scientist, so I'm on my way to Amsterdam.
I got a lead on some new HCV research and How did it go with the cannabinoid inhibitor treatment? Good.
Good.
It went good.
- Good but not great.
- No, it was fine.
I just want to check out this thing in Amsterdam.
Apparently they're using these these engineered red blood cells to have HCV receptors in them.
You there? You wanna hear how it works? Not really.
Wes, have you started the antidepressants? Rachel, I need to take a pill just to remember all the pills I need to take.
Depression is a serious side effect of interferon and you're on a massive dose, so you I'm fine.
Don't worry about it.
Okay, listen I'm gonna call you from Amsterdam, but I want you to call me if you wanna talk, okay? Anytime.
I mean it.
The other line is ringing, Rachel.
I gotta go.
Anyway, he doesn't want to go home.
Keep an eye on him, 'cause Wes doesn't know how bad off he is.
Bob's been checking on him practically every half hour.
Don't worry about him, David.
It's very unlike you.
You're right.
So how's it going down there? Seem to be doing all the right tests.
Blood work confirms everything he said.
The CAT scans show lesions and that says PML.
PML is caused by the JC virus, right? Correct.
80% of the population has JC in them.
In normal people, the virus hangs out in the brain Yeah, and it's kept in check by the body's immune system.
But if your immune system goes on the fritz, it gets a chance to go to town and it dissolves your brain.
But I thought you said these people, their immune systems are fine.
They are.
That's what's unexplainable.
What the hell is happening here? What if the JC is not causing the disease, but is triggered by it? A by-product.
That's an interesting idea.
I'm going to check for infectious agents.
I'll collect blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid.
- Start with Patient Zero.
- Right.
Hey, Mayko, can you switch me over to Bob? Yeah, sure.
Hey, Bob.
Hello.
Samples will be there tonight.
Let me know when they arrive.
It'll be marked what to do.
I want everything started tonight.
We should be back in TO by late morning.
- Sure.
No problem.
- How are you doing? I'm OK.
No temperature.
Fewer headaches.
- Take it easy.
- I'm fine, David.
You keeping an eye on Wes? - He's very depressed, David.
- Yeah, I know, Mayko told me.
Listen, just talk to him.
That's really the best thing.
Talking.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Hello, Weston.
Hi, Bob.
Beautiful day, isn't it? Yeah.
Cirrus castellanus are my favourite clouds.
I especially love the "towers" of cirrus, connected by a thinner base.
My eyes are bleeding, Bob.
They've been bleeding all morning.
It's a side effect of the interferon.
My eyes are bleeding.
And my HIV's gonna turn to AIDS, Bob.
Don't worry about it.
Why don't we go downstairs and I'll get some tea? I can make you your favourite sandwich and we can sit down to talk That'd be nice, Bob.
Let's go.
I'll meet you downstairs, okay? Come on, let's go.
I just need a minute by myself, Bob.
I'll be down.
I I can't leave you up This is a spinal fluid tap.
I know after a few days in the hospital, you'll feel a bit like a pincushion.
Hey, Dad.
Excuse me I'm his daughter.
Maybe you can help me.
- Could you finish up, please? - Yes, Doctor.
I'm Dr.
Carlos Serrano.
Marie Gervais.
- Your father was the first to get sick? - Three weeks ago.
I've never even heard of progressive multi Focal leukoencephalopathy.
PML.
It's very rare.
Why my dad? He was healthy.
He never smoked.
Rarely drinks.
Has he done anything different lately, been anywhere, changed his routine at all? No.
Oh he doesn't go hunting anymore.
Why? When our dog got hit when she died, he took it pretty bad.
I see.
Listen my dad's pretty upset because everyone thinks he made everyone else sick.
We don't even know if it's contagious, and if it is contagious, then someone gave it to him, right? Look Here's my cell.
Call me if you have any questions.
Okay.
Thanks.
How're we making out? Hang on a second.
What? What? Ah, fuck Okay.
" laughter from the gallery.
"Rathin had traveled 3,100 miles around a concrete block in Queens" Hey, David.
Carlos.
It's mainly his left side.
Fractured distal tibia, - broken femur but he's going to be OK.
- Any internal damage? They've done preliminaries, but no word yet.
He's scheduled for a full body scan tomorrow morning.
They took him off interferon.
David, the HCV will close in now.
It's just a matter of time.
I should've stopped him.
I didn't know what to say.
Bob, this had nothing to do with you.
I know, David.
- Could you take Bob back to my place? - Yeah.
Later, Bob.
Must've died and gone to hell.
You're interrupting me in the middle of an online Scrabble game.
Does Rachel know? Oh yeah.
How'd she take it? The fact that you tried to commit suicide or the fact that you're still alive? She took it on the chin, like she does everything.
How's he doing? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to ask that.
How you doing, Wes? Lotta pain, I hope.
I'm good.
Nice and doped up, thanks.
Think you're ready for a little water? Maybe you'd like to help.
Oh, sure.
Thanks.
All right, Wes.
Okay.
Got an email from Rachel last night, as a matter of fact.
Discovered some interesting work being done on HCV in Amsterdam.
Very, very encouraged.
- I wish I had a camera.
- Why? I don't think anybody's ever seen you be nice to me, David.
Don't get used to it.
Okay, what's with this mysterious email you sent me? Wes requested surveillance tapes from Toronto Division of Health.
Watch this.
This is the back of Cove's lab.
Just wait.
That's Cove.
What's he taking out of there? - Tainted blood collection kits, maybe? - It's hard to prove from this tape.
Maybe we can find them.
He had to have hid them someplace.
No, he would have thrown them out by now.
- David, we don't have to find them.
- Why? This is from last Sunday, after the lab was declared a crime scene.
Obstruction of justice? Okay Good work, Mayko.
Thank you.
- Ready? - Yeah.
Two minutes.
Bob.
Conference room.
Bob? Conference room.
Conference room.
- How was your check up? - I'm going tomorrow.
You still on the chloramphenicol? Yeah, portable pump delivers - 24 hours a day.
- Jesus.
Kind of toxic to be on an IV of the stuff, isn't it? It's effective on penetrating the blood-brain barrier.
You don't want the cure to do more damage than the problem.
How is Weston? Hangin' in there.
Whaddaya got on Iron River? The CAT scan and the cerebrospinal fluid still indicate progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
- Blood work? - No rabies, no viral meningitis pathology comes up negative on everything.
Preliminary environmental tests came back negative on air and soil.
Some well water samples contained low levels of PCBs and mercury.
Here's the data.
You'll have the results on the full matrix of tests Monday PM.
The MRI's confirm lesions in the brain.
We have a disease that's affecting people who should be able to fight it and it seems to be spreading when it shouldn't.
That's about it.
But why? What's triggering it? We're testing for West Nile, St.
Louis, Western Equine encephalopathy We have the university labs running down the usual vectors they're testing local mosquitoes, ticks, parasites.
Good.
Bob, could you run PCR diagnostics for Bob? Could you run PCR diagnostic tests on measles, mumps, rubella, EBV and chickenpox? Are we that desperate? Yeah.
Let's get to work.
Not you, Bob.
Are you all right? You got a headache or I'm experiencing strange memories.
Like what? They're surreal, but I'm there again.
- Where? - Roth's lab.
Except it's deserted.
Okay.
Anything else? See, I'm trying to remember what happened at Roth's lab, but it's like I'm reliving it but I'm awake.
Okay It may just be you still have swelling on your brain, okay? Make sure you tell all this to your neurologist tomorrow.
I had a thought about Iron River.
Parasites, like toxoplasmosis, can also cause brain inflammation in people with weakened immune systems.
I'll look into that.
Yeah.
Good idea.
Thanks, Bob.
See that, Bob? That might be some residual pus.
If it is, the antibiotics still haven't cleared up the infection.
- It's not spreading.
- No, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.
If it's infected, I need to drain it.
No more surgery.
I need to go in and examine it.
If it's infected, I can find the best antibiotic to kill the infection.
I'm having these memories hallucinations.
Even some mild swelling can cause that.
How bad? It's affecting my work.
I can't sleep.
I can't concentrate.
I heard about this drug called Imipramine It's an anti-depressant that has good effects with post-traumatic stress.
Will it block all my memories? You know the drill different subjects, different reactions.
I wanna try it.
Patient Zero, Gervais, died last night.
Two young girls, twins, slipped into a coma and another three admitted to hospital.
Environmental update just came in.
They found traces of vinyl chloride.
That's been connected to brain cancer, hasn't it? Cancer yes, not conclusively linked to brain cancer.
- Didn't we drive by a landfill site? - Yeah.
Hair sprays and aerosols used to contain vinyl chloride.
A lot of vinyl chloride comes from the breakdown of TCE, - stuff in dry cleaning.
- Also computer chips.
- Have we looked at the manufacturing? - There is no manufacturing.
Inbreeding is starting to sound like a very good possibility.
No.
I did a genome-wide SNP analysis of all the patients.
No obvious links between them.
Why aren't we seeing PML in any other towns? Why just Iron River? What's so special about Iron River? What? Yeah.
Really? He wants to make a deal? Why don't you tell Dr.
Cove to go fuck himself? Don't even ask.
I'm sorry.
Wes, it was the drugs.
I just couldn't keep myself together.
I just I've never felt so out of control.
- I don't - Oh, stop.
Stop.
You're freezing I don't want to be in this bed I don't want to die, Rachel.
You're not gonna die.
Tell me the truth.
The cannabinoid treatment in London I'm still not sure about it.
What about the Amsterdam treatment? It's too experimental.
So that's it? Without treatment, the HCV is gonna double every 12 hours.
With the interferon, I'm throwing myself off the roof.
Give me the Amsterdam treatment.
It's not just unproven - it could be dangerous.
- Without it, I'm gonna die, Rachel.
Do it.
Give me the treatment.
You gotta give me hope.
There is one more possibility.
In Germany I was talking with some people in Berlin and it looks promising Give me the treatment.
I'll look into it.
Okay? I love you, Rachel.
You're not gonna die.
So I've been analyzing our DNA sequence data from the Iron River patients.
I got a hit on some non-human DNA.
- It's an unknown virus.
- How long to complete the genome? In about an hour.
Hey, guys.
Is everything okay? - Can I talk to you for a minute? - Yes.
I met with Dr.
Van de Moortel in Amsterdam.
How's she doing? She sends her fondest.
Her fondest, eh? How's Anika looking these days? You know, gorgeous.
I let that one slip away.
I should call her.
- She just got engaged.
- I'll wait 6 months.
What's she up to? Basically, her lab has engineered red blood cells to express CD81.
It's a cell-surface receptor for the HCV.
So, the Hep C virus attaches itself to the modified red blood cells, it thinks it's some liver, crawls inside and it's trapped and HCV can't replicate in red blood cells.
Can't get out.
This is very clever.
Very.
Very clever.
But, of course, lots of potential problems.
Like what happens if his body rejects the engineered cells? It's working in the mice.
Yeah, I know.
They hope to start human trials in 18 months.
Wes doesn't have 18 days.
Yeah.
I know.
No, he can't wait.
But you don't wanna kill him, though, either, right? - We need to do something.
- Is this the right "something"? I don't know! I don't have another "something.
" This is the best It might also be the worst, Rachel.
I know.
I told Wes.
He wants to do it.
There is one other possibility.
There is? - You know Cove's in custody, right? - Yeah? He's charged with second-degree murder for tainting the needles with HCV.
I got a call today.
He wants to make a deal.
He says he has a cure.
I think he's full of shit.
But I'm setting something up.
And there she goes.
No exact match.
- We've discovered a new virus.
- Cool.
What are its closest relatives? Okay: baboon cytomegalovirus to our unknown virus.
Human cytomegalovirus - 94% genetic similarity.
- So our unknown virus, I think we can conclude, is in the cytomegalovirus family.
Wait.
Look at this.
These are short stretches of DNA.
But 100% matches.
Canine DNA? It's from the Dog Genome Project.
Oh, shit.
You know what they did? They thought they were just sequencing dog DNA, but they ended up sequencing viral DNA that was in the dogs' cells.
Which means that our mystery virus Comes from dogs.
One problem Canine CMV has not been found.
Well, - maybe we found it.
- Who are you calling? I used to date a vet.
Probably the only woman who ever understood you.
Virginia.
David Sandstrà m.
Professional call.
I'm gonna put you on speaker.
Virginia, what do you know about canine CMV? Nothing.
We don't see it, Sandstrà m.
Yeah, I know.
There must be thousands of viruses that you haven't identified.
Is canine CMV theoretically possible? Absolutely, but if a canine CMV exists, it would have to be benign.
The nasty ones, we identify.
So I guess the answer is: Sure, it could and probably does exist.
That's the answer I wanted.
You and I should get together some Whatever.
But this virus is not benign, David.
In humans.
I'm betting it is in dogs.
Valganciclovir works on human CMV.
If it works on canine CMV, we'll be able to stop this thing.
It's worth a try.
- Thank you for coming.
- Let's just hope it's worth our time.
I don't generally visit mass murderers.
So what have you got? Are you capable of making a deal? No, but the people who can want us to make sure you're not full of shit.
Sorry about your administrator.
Why? Because he's not a junkie? It's okay to kill junkies, but not to kill other people, right? Perhaps we can talk about my cure? - Piece of shit! - Stop it! Stop! It's okay.
We're okay.
Why the fuck should we believe you've got a cure? Because I had to watch my daughter suffer with HCV for 5 years.
- So I did everything I could.
- But you do have a cure.
Yes.
Toll receptors.
I was working on a cure with Toll receptor activators.
It's a drug that convinces the immune system it's under attack.
We know what Toll receptors are.
But did you get them fighting a Hep C virus? Yes.
Lot of people playing in that yard.
The trials are failing.
Not my trials.
Success rates are in the teens.
I got 64% before I quit.
With mice.
With humans.
Want to get more specific? Sure.
As soon as you get me out of this place.
We're gonna need some proof.
How would you like to look at my lab books? I tested for the CMV you sent me and found it in 5 of the 9 dogs currently in my clinic.
- Are they sick with it? - No.
But all 5 have Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumour.
It's a communicable dog cancer, where dogs pass cancer to one another? Right, through sex, licking, biting.
I have a list of the PML patients do any of the 5 dogs belong to them? Ted Wynn His dog Fergie had communicable dog cancer and died about a month ago.
And Sally Cawthra.
Her dog Dixie was sick with it but recovered.
- I didn't know she was sick.
- Just admitted.
Where do you think the outbreak started? Gervais, Patient Zero, did his dog have it? Boomer? No.
Not that I know of.
Now that we know of.
True.
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
Yeah, David, it's me.
I think you'd better get back to Iron River as soon as possible.
Call me back.
We tested All our patients have the canine CMV you sent.
We also tried the drug you suggested.
On the twins.
They're improving.
Finally, some good news.
She's in there.
Oh, and by the way, nice haircut.
Marie, I'm so sorry I guess it is contagious.
But you did not get this from your father.
No one did.
Marie Gervais, this is my colleague, - David Sandstrà m.
- Hey.
We think your dog passed this virus on to you and your father.
Boomer? She was never sick.
- She got hit by a truck and died.
- Well, we talked to your vet.
She said Boomer had 30 stitches in June, what was that all about? She got into a fight with something in the woods.
Her face got bit up pretty bad.
My dad thought it was a wolf maybe.
Why? Marie, where's Boomer buried? We're gonna have to exhume the body.
Hey.
Bob.
There's leftovers.
Great.
- Sorry for the mess.
- No problem.
Your email sounded like the trip was successful.
Maybe.
You know how it is.
What about you? Your hallucinations Any improvement with the Imipramine? You know the woman I was thinking about? I was heading home from work and I smelled jasmine I think it was Jasminum grandiflorum And I looked out across the street She was walking along, so beautiful I think she saw me, but I wasn't sure.
So I stepped off She wasn't there.
Or I couldn't find her and Or maybe she was never there Bob, that kind of thing happens to everybody.
I'm fine, David.
Okay.
It's all new to me.
Sure.
You still don't know anything about her? I can draw her.
I think Da Vinci was wrong.
You can paint what you haven't seen.
I read about this Turkish painter who was blind all his life.
He painted mounts, and lakes, and faces and butterflies, with perspective and shadow And they tested him in New York to see how the brain and other senses construct images.
So maybe Maybe that's what you're doing.
Maybe that's what I'm doing.
And this is what she looks like? Yes.
She's pretty.
I wish I knew who she was.
Well, now you know what she looks like.
That's good.
That's great.
We should celebrate.
Imipramine is not a great thing to mix with alcohol and antibiotics.
Who said one of these is for you? - Morning.
- Hey, David, wanna take a look? What is it? - Communicable dog cancer.
- She had it! If she had not been hit by the car, she would have a cancer.
What about the virus? Rachel said she had two more minutes.
That was half an hour ago.
There you are.
I found the canine CMV in Boomer.
Right in the cancer cells.
There you go! Boomer must have infected all the other dogs, eh? What's that? Cove really was running trials.
Shows excellent results, for a cocktail that he uses with a toll receptor drug.
Great news.
The cocktail includes ribavirin, interferon and a protease inhibitor, but he does not list the details of the toll receptor drug.
Don't worry about that.
I'll get it out of him.
- Five minutes in a room with me - David.
He's dead.
- Cove is dead.
- What? Yeah.
Some inmates, where he was in custody Mimico or somewhere - They heard what he'd done and - Aw, fuck.
In the showers They apparently needed his dental records to identify him.
Rachel, I'm sorry.
We were so close.
- You need to take some time here.
- No.
No, I We're proving that a dog with cancer can lick you and give you some disease that dissolves your brain.
It's really just the kind of distraction that I need.
We still have to nail transmission.
How does it get from a cancer cell on your lip into your brain? How does it enter? Mayko! Stay right there.
I want you to go into the database on the Iron River patients and see what their physical condition was like I'm looking for cuts, open sores, cold sores, chapped lips, cracked lips, that sort of thing.
Got ya.
How does it get from a cancer cell on your lip into your brain? How does it enter? Mayko! Stay right there.
I want you to Rachel? You wanted to have a meeting about the canine CMV? - Um yeah.
- You okay? I need to ask a favour.
Sure.
What's up? You know this decoy receptor treatment we're thinking about for Wes? David's mentioned it.
What do you think? I'm not a haematologist.
What do you think? What does Wes say? Wes wants it.
But David thinks it might be too risky.
It is.
It is.
But if I were Wes, I would do it.
Yeah, me too.
I want you to show me how to administer the treatment.
And I need to know how to administer the decoy treatment myself.
- Rachel, listen to me - Will you show me how to do this? It would take an oversight board at least 7 days to make a decision.
They'll never want to give you the OK.
So what else can I do? Yeah.
Thank you.
Good luck.
You're beautiful.
You ready? You sure you wanna go through with this, Wes? 'Cause Yeah.
Just do it.
Okay.
You understand the risks, right? And you're sure you understand how these engineered red blood cells will work.
You've explained it 3 times already, Rachel.
If it works, we should see a reduction in viral load in about 4 hours.
So? Well, of the original 9 patients in Iron River, - and 4 worked outside.
- That works for me.
Working outdoors causes cracked lips.
Everybody else had open wounds.
- Where are you going with this? - Cancer cells replicate like crazy, and dogs pass them one to another.
CMV is a hitchhiker.
It crawls into the cancer cells and lets it do all the work for it: replication.
And then the dogs transmit it from one to the other, - dog goes to lick somebody - Virus crawls out of the cancer cell into an open cut and enters into the body And then you die.
So, is this a freak occurrence in Iron River? Like, should I stop making out with dogs? Dunno.
We'd have to find a really smart post-doc to spend the next 5 years helping us figure it out.
What about the PML patients? Antivirals can stop the infection; the problem is, when you realize somebody's got it, damage to the brain has already happened and can't be undone.
When all this is over, I'm renting us a room at the Four Seasons in Papagayo, Costa Rica.
Just the two of us.
Common Wes! Help! I need somebody in here! He's not breathing! Take it easy.
It's okay.
I need someone now! Take it easy.
Take it easy.
Just relax.
Did you read this? The girl poisoned in Ottawa? She's the daughter of city council Randall Oberman.
He's trying to stop the construction of a mosque.
- It's got the Muslim all over him.
- He thinks they poisoned his daughter? Some boys, Arabs, Muslim kids, have been taunting her at school and defaced her locker.
If she dies Homeland Security commissioned to come up with a cure in case of a smallpox attack.
Homeland wants NorBAC's opinion on which drug to use.
Is it contagious, Captain? Should the military stop the inoculation program? No, it's not contagious.
Not true.
Marianne caught it from her husband, so technically it is contagious.
A kiss did this? You better look at it fast.
They may have called us too late.
He doesn't have months.
We'll make him as comfortable as we can.
You're a mess.
I know you're not gonna give up on me.
I don't think he's gonna make it.
We'll think of something.