The Genesis Plague - Michael Byrnes [87]
Levin gave the comment serious consideration. Native to Iraq were six species of highly venomous snakes - five in the Viperidae family, or ‘vipers’, and one in the Elapidae family, or ‘cobras’ - most of which were common in the deserts and grasslands. Iraq’s northern mountains, if his recollection was correct, were home to the Kurdistan vipers and Persian Horned vipers, both highly poisonous. But since most troops took precautions to not antagonize snakes, and given the fact that vipers had a tough time biting through combat boots, he’d had no practical experience in diagnosing or treating snake bites.
He mentally recollected facts from the acclimation training he’d received prior to his first deployment to Iraq. Viper venom was a haemotoxin - primary target: blood cells. When bitten, a patient would develop severe pain and swelling around the bite. Left untreated, massive internal bleeding could occur.
So maybe a snake bite couldn’t be ruled out. But the most obvious symptom would be the wound itself, thought Levin, and the infected gouge in Al-Zahrani’s hand looked nothing like the twin punctures left behind from snake fangs. Unless, perhaps, Al-Zahrani had ripped off the snake hard enough to tear away flesh. Even so, could venom act so quickly? Were Iraq’s mountain vipers that poisonous?
‘A snake bite,’ Levin muttered. ‘Maybe. The snake you saw … did it have two horns protruding out from above its eyes?’
The marine was quick to respond. ‘Nope.’
‘What did it look like?’
‘Maybe a metre long. Its skin was yellowish with big brown spots … kind of like a giraffe.’
Kurdistan viper, thought Levin.
‘Then there’s something you can give him for that, right?’ the first marine asked.
‘Yes. Yes, there is.’ Protocol dictated that snake-bite victims were to be stabilized in the field, then flown back to the nearest command base for treatment. Therefore, antivenoms for the region’s snakes had become a standard provision, compliments of Israeli Intelligence.
Levin used his sleeve to wipe sweat from his forehead, then scrambled to open his medical case. After rummaging for fifteen seconds, he found the correct snake-bite kit. He quickly skimmed the directions, then used the kit’s saline ampoules to reconstitute the freeze-dried antivenom powder. He filled a syringe and hurried over to Al-Zahrani. He gave it a second thought, but said, ‘I guess it can’t hurt, right?’
‘Go for it, Doc,’ the second marine encouragingly replied with a wink and a nod.
Levin injected the antivenom into a thick vein on Al-Zahrani’s forearm. Panic set in the moment Levin stood back to reassess the situation. Had he acted too hastily? If Al-Zahrani hadn’t been bitten by a viper, would the antivenom exacerbate his condition? ‘I’m not sure if this will work,’ he told the marines. ‘We’ve got to get him to a hospital, immediately.’ He addressed the first marine, saying, ‘You need to convince Crawford to transport him. Tell him what’s happening in here.’
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ the marine replied noncommittally, then hurried out from the tent.
‘Wouldn’t that be a kick in the balls?’ the second marine said. ‘Finding this douchebag and having him die like this.’
‘You’re not helping matters. So please shut up,’ Levin snapped. Frantic now, he was trying to figure out what else he could do. Whatever was making Al-Zahrani haemorrhage internally might be visible under a microscope, he reasoned. With the constant threat of weaponized biological agents turning up in Iraq, Levin’s acclimation training had also included advanced microscopy. So if he could isolate and identify the culprit …
Collecting himself, Levin swiftly unpacked the battery-powered microscope, which resembled an espresso maker - a state-of-the-art tool developed exclusively for the US military in response to the growing need to assess bioterror threats in the field. Next, he turned on his laptop and connected the microscope’s USB cable. Within seconds, the operating system identified the plug-in device and launched its associated software