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1976. An unknown outbreak rips through the border between Zaire and Sudan, decimating towns in its wake. An international team of doctors responds, discovering a swift, deadly disease from which few survive. The doctors split up, tracking the disease, trying to prevent its spread. Doctor’s James Howell and Peter Franklin track the disease north, over the Sudan border. They stumble upon a town ravaged by the disease. With the town in panic and no doctor to help, the small clinic has fallen under the care of the head nurse Nyawela. The doctors quickly find themselves ill-prepared for the severity of the outbreak and resort to extreme measures to stop the disease, including burning bodies. This sets them in direct violation of the towns religious beliefs, wherein the body must be washed and buried as it feels, even after death. But the practice is also directly responsible for spreading the disease. As Nyawela tries to find ways to care for her patients, the doctors distance themselves, not wanting to be mire themselves beyond their mission. While taking samples one night, one of the patients slips into a seizure, causing James’s hand to slip and stab himself with a contaminated needle. Fearing he’s infected, James chooses to stay in the town and continue working rather than attempt evacuation. He soon forced to experience life as a patient, watching as Nzara’s disease slowly becomes his own.
