Peter Miles handed him one. No one else stirred. Everyone in that echoing bunker was gripped by his tale.‘We reported our discovery up the chain of command, but there was little real interest. What did we have? We knew a name – the Gottvirus – but other than that . . .’ Uncle Joe lifted and lowered his shoulders resignedly. ‘The world was at peace. The public were tired of war. Gradually the whole thing was forgotten. For twenty years it was forgotten. And then . . . Marburg.’He stared into the distance, his gaze lost in far-off memories. ‘In central Germany lies the small, pretty town of Marburg. In the spring of 1967, there was an unexplained outbreak of disease in the town’s Behringwerke laboratory. Thirty-one lab workers were infected. Seven died. Somehow, a new and unknown pathogen had broken out: it was named the Marburg virus, or Filoviridae, because its form was thread-like; like a filament. Nothing like it had ever been seen before.’ Uncle Joe drained his glass of water.
