One Phone Call

Dr. Joel Breman, an epidemic intelligence officer, had just left the frigid air of a Michigan autopsy room in October 1976 when the phone rang. It was Lyle Conrad, supervisor of CDC’s field officers. “There’s a very unusual outbreak in Africa,” the director said. “We want to you to go there.”

Less than eight months earlier, Breman thought he had left West Africa after spending almost a decade fighting smallpox, measles, and other diseases in Guinea, Burkina Faso and elsewhere in West Africa accompanied by his wife, a nurse. With two small kids, the couple had decided to settle in Michigan for two years, where they could work at a quiet state outpost of the CDC and let their children grow up in the suburbs. But with one phone call, Breman knew he had to go back. He was well suited for the task: he spoke fluent French, knew many greetings in local languages, and had a disposition that made people feel at ease.