The Hot Zone

Adapted from the book of the same name, THE HOT ZONE is a dramatic miniseries inspired by the true story of the 1989 outbreak of the Ebola virus in the United States. Dr. Nancy Jaax (Julianna Margulies), a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), works with the world's deadliest diseases in order to identify, contain, and find cures for some of the most fatal pathogens on the planet. When primates shipped from the Philippines to a private animal research facility owned by Walter Humbolt (Robert Sean Leonard) begin dying, her tests reveal that they are dealing with a strand of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Faced with resistance from her civilian colleague Peter Jahrling (Topher Grace) and the military, Jaax relies on her mentor Wade Carter (Liam Cunningham) to guide her efforts, and to convince those in charge that the disease must be contained by destroying the animals. They must also track down every person exposed to the animals, and those with whom they may have come in contact with. Meanwhile, Trevor Rhodes (James D'Arcy), Carter's former colleague and now director of the Centers for Disease Control, wants to approach the situation more cautiously in order to avoid creating what can become a national panic. Dr. Jaax has the courage to do whatever she can to learn more about, and contain, the virus. But this doesn't lessen her concerns for her husband (Noah Emmerich), her children (played by Aiden Glenn and Anna Pniowsky), and her dying father.