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Missoula TV report: three children hospitalized after Lone Rock outbreak; CDC, FBI mentioned in broadcast
Summary
A KMSO broadcast reported that three children were hospitalized with an Ebola-like illness and linked cases to an outbreak in Lone Rock; the broadcast said St. Jude’s Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control were involved and that the FBI had leads on an intentional origin.
Larry Frost, KMSO anchor, opened a news segment saying a “mysterious illness is baffling Missoula” after “3 children were hospitalized yesterday when they were struck by an unknown illness.” The broadcast identified the three as Sally Hayes, Missy Buchanan and Billy Sims and said the hospital described symptoms resembling the Ebola virus.
The broadcast reported that Janet Williams spoke from St. Jude’s Hospital with Dr. Anne Mansfield, an expert on the Ebola virus. Mansfield said, “It seems that the virus that contaminated Lone Rock and infected the children are the same.” The report described the strain as “a genetically engineered mutation of Ebola,” said it “transmits itself through direct contact with someone infected possibly through contaminated water,” and that the age group most at risk was “between the ages of 40 and 80.”
The KMSO report quoted a hospital physician, identified on air as Doctor Wolf, who said the three children “are beginning to show signs of recovery” and that doctors were treating them with “a mixture of antibiotics and steroids,” adding it was “too soon to tell if the children are completely out of danger.”
The broadcast said the Center for Disease Control had brought in experts and found “an antivirus similar in composition to the lone rock strain of Ebola” and reported that the broadcast’s sources said the antivirus had been “introduced into the watershed.” The same report said the FBI had “isolated the cause” and “said it was an intentional act” after finding “a single broken vial at the starting point of the Blackfoot River” and that investigators had narrowed suspects to three University of Montana microbiology students and were preparing to apprehend a primary suspect.
The station’s on-scene reporter Tim Rickon described Lone Rock as “primarily a town for elderly men and women” and said local officials and officials on the broadcast were trying to sort the details; the report included on-air 911 audio and field reporting that said police had found multiple deaths in Lone Rock. The broadcast did not present official public-health confirmation of the laboratory findings on the air; it reported the hospital and federal agencies’ involvement as conveyed through the station’s reporting.
What happened next remains subject to confirmation from public‑health and law‑enforcement agencies: the broadcast described CDC and FBI activity and a reported antiviral introduction to the watershed but did not include on‑the‑record statements from agency spokespeople on camera. KMSO said it would continue to cover developments.
The broadcast included graphic descriptions and emotive language in field reports and on-scene audio, which the reporters relayed to viewers as part of the live coverage.
