Smallpox

Tonight’s episode of House featured the eccentric doctor coming to the aid of a family which potentially acquired smallpox after handling the long lost equipment of a former slave ship. This quickly leads to the CDC infection team taking over House’s hospital, issuing a quarantine that effectively bans his team from being able to do their work properly. The skilled and knowledgeable doctor receives test results which disprove the situation, but he finds no willing ear as he tries to de-escalate the panic.
House and his team attempt to trick the CDC group into believing that one of the patients in quarantine actually has Meningococcal disease to gain access, but this ruse is quickly discovered; the situation grows more tense as House violates the quarantine to treat his patients. He puts himself in danger until he finds the actual cure: a similar but less severe and ultimately treatable condition called rickettsialpox.

Smallpox