Thread by @cfishman

'The code'

This @washingtonpost is a real-life thriller.

A lone geneticist, in a small mid-west town, uncovers a wildfire outbreak of covid-19 at the huge Agri Star meat-packing plant — that the plant & the state of Iowa make every effort to cover up.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…

2/ So many great moments of reporting & writing in this story of how the genetic code of the coronavirus can be used to track the outbreak.

The virus is so adept that 'in 24 hours it can fill a human's respiratory tract with a trillion copies of itself.'

3/ The state of Iowa waited so long to acknowledge the outbreak at Agri Star — well more than 150 cases in a single factory — that by the time reporters started asking questions, Iowa law said the state could remain silent.

Because the outbreak was no longer 'active.'

4/ The geneticist who uncovered the outbreak, and linked cases across a 6-county region (and then across the country) to the Agri Star plant — he made maps and charts that he hung on the walls of his lab, tracking who had what strain of virus.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…

5/ This is a new genre of journalism: investigative feature writing.

A story of how a big company in a small town worked with the state government to protect itself, & the government — & not the people of Postville or Iowa.

Start reading. You won't stop.
washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…