02E03 - Outbreak

The activities at the White House this day include Kendra's first major assignment of mediation between affected stakeholders of what to do about a statue of a Confederate war general in Tennessee, he who is now deemed a racist - keeping the statue at its current prominent location which has an unexpected supporter - and the unveiling of a creature biologically named after Tom. Lyor finds the choice of creature offensive to his boss while Seth has to figure out a way to spin it positively to the public. These issues take a back seat when a public health crisis occurs, with a deadly avian flu outbreak in South Carroll Parish, Louisiana. First reports are that there is a forty percent fatality rate of those infected. Dr. Tammy Bruner with the CDC believes the outbreak will spread throughout the country in the matter of days if not contained despite the relatively isolated nature of South Carroll Parish. Dr. Bruner heads to the front line to deal with the outbreak. Although she reports back that there are no current pharmaceuticals to prevent the flu and that the development of a vaccine would take months, she believes there is an experimental drug developed for a different purpose by a pharmaceutical company owned by Carlton Mackie that may control the flu. Although Mackie is somewhat cooperative in his initial meeting with Tom, Tom learns that Mackie has different priorities, such as making money and ensuring the long term viability of his company, which, if he gets his way, would result in unnecessary immediate deaths in South Carroll Parish, a relatively poor and predominantly black community. The other goings-on in the White House this day could affect what happens between Tom and Mackie. Meanwhile, Chuck is trying to decrypt the file Lloyd sent to the cloud before the drone strike, while Hannah and Damian continue to follow up on the incident at the First Lady's mother's house. They know that Lloyd's actions there were not by accident, he leaving a trail of bread crumbs to what he wants them to discover whatever it is.