. How do you feel about Tom Geisbert and Peter Jarhling's decision not to tell their superiors of "the whiffing incident?" Does it differ from what Nurse Mayinga did when she left the hospital? Why do you think each of them tried to hide or deny exposure?

Rather than risk being isolated in the Slammer, Tom and Peter decide not to tell Colonel Peters about the incident. Instead, they will test their blood for the virus and hope for the best.

In this section, Preston draws a parallel between the Reston operation and Ebola Zaire through Jahrling and Geisbert’s refusal to admit their exposure. Both men inhaled from a flask containing a potentially airborne filovirus, yet they choose to ignore the possibility that they could be vectors for the virus. Instead of checking themselves into the Slammer for the remaining eight days of the incubation period, they decide to take a chance that they won’t develop symptoms. This choice has echoes of Nurse Mayinga’s decision to spend two days in Kinshasa in the hope that she had not actually been exposed and could still travel abroad for her studies. Although Jahrling and Geisbert are much less likely to develop symptoms than Mayinga, their decision is still undeniably selfish and potentially disastrous to their loved ones and colleagues.