By Amy Geiszler-Jones

Jerry and Nancy Jaax, who were key participants in handling the first outbreak of Ebola in the United States, will talk about that experience and the threat of bioterrorism in two lectures next month.

The Jaaxes, now faculty members at Kansas State University, will talk about "Into the Hot Zone: The Reston Ebola Incident" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in 208 Hubbard Hall.

Jerry Jaax, a bio-security expert, will present "Understanding the Bioterrorism Threat: Are We Vulnerable?" at 12:30 p.m. Friday, April 12, in 209 Hubbard Hall.

Both lectures are part of WSU’s Watkins Visiting Professorship Series. The latter lecture is more scientific.

The outbreak of Ebola in a monkey quarantine facility in Reston, Va., was described in the New York Times bestseller, "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. Ebola is a particularly severe virus that is often fatal in humans and nonhuman primates. Severe hemorrhaging is one of its effects.

In late 1989, the Jaaxes, both U.S. Army officers, were assigned to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md. He was head of the veterinary division and she was chief of pathology when USAMRIID was called in to help identify and contain the virus in the facility. The virus carried by the monkeys became the fourth known strain of Ebola, called Ebola-Reston.

The Jaaxes’ experiences became the basis for Preston’s book and the movie "Outbreak."

Jerry Jaax, who is associate vice provost for research compliance and K-State’s university veterinarian, has extensive experience in high-hazard biological and chemical warfare issues.

A former director of the Army’s Biological Arms Control Treaty Office, Jaax says a bioterrorism attack could cripple the agricultural-based economy of America’s heartland. "A significant risk" of such an attack exists, he says, because it would be relatively easy to infect crops or livestock.