Patient Zero

"What exactly do you mean by 'you may have identified patient zero?'" asked Francis, as he walked briskly towards Dr. Durand.

Dr. Durand looked back at Francis with a serious expression. "A man came forward to us claiming that he might be the initial carrier of the outbreak."

Francis raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked. "Does he show any symptoms of the flu?"

"He has coughed a few times but no other symptoms. It's possible he's asymptomatic," Dr. Durand answered, his voice betraying a hint of caution amidst the unfolding uncertainty.

Francis nodded, processing the new information with a critical eye. He knew that finding the patient zero was one of the surefire ways of eliminating the epidemic as they could synthesize a vaccine from his strain of the virus. "If he's truly asymptomatic, he could be both a critical piece of the puzzle and a significant risk factor," Francis considered aloud.