In this biological thriller, a virulent African disease is accidentally brought to the United States and it is up to Colonel Sam Daniels and his crack team of Army medical researchers to find the source and contain it before it kills everyone in the country. The not-entirely-implausible tale begins in Zaire in 1967 where two men in special suits are seen investigating an outbreak of a strange virus that has ravaged the countryside. At their order, a bomb is dropped on the affected area to wipe out the disease. Suddenly, the story jumps to the modern US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases where many terrible viruses are stored and studied. Col. Daniels and his men are preparing to head for Zaire to investigate a new outbreak of the virus. Daniels fears that the virus could quickly reach pandemic proportions if not immediately contained; he has every reason to be afraid, for unbeknownst to the researchers, a "host" monkey is captured in Africa and shipped to San Francisco. It is then stolen from its holding facility and sold to a pet store. After that, the infectious primate escapes into the wilds. Daniels' attempts to investigate are thwarted by two higher-ups who have been trying to keep the whole mess quiet since 1967. Unfortunately, all that have come into contact with the monkey are now infected and the disease is raging like wildfire through a small town. If Daniels cannot contain the outbreak, the generals in charge of the situation will not hesitate to annihilate the town with another bomb.