The Politburo initially covers up the outbreak by engineering a military crisis with Taiwan to avoid appearing weak internationally. Still, thousands of infected quickly spread the virus outside of China through immigration, human trafficking, and the organ trade.

"Patient Zero" is a twelve-year-old Chinese boy bitten while treasure diving with his father in "the sunken ruins of the Three Gorges Reservoir" (2.1. 18). Since the father and the unknown assailant never came up, "Patient Zero" gets the dubious honor of the first known zombie of World War Z.