Residents across Harrison County and neighboring counties are being told to take precautions after AlysonCo issued a public safety advisory Sunday describing multiple cases of an unknown infectious disease, one the company believes escaped from its own Kaslo lab.
The notice, signed by Maeximillian, Vice President of AlysonCo Labs (who also sits on the County Council), says the company is acting on the recommendation of its partners at the CDC. It lists symptoms including cannibalistic tendencies, photophobia, and intense skin discoloration, and says AlysonCo is working with the Harrison County Government on quarantine measures. The company attached disease prevention guidelines for residents and asked everyone to follow CDC and local official guidance. AlysonCo did not say how many people have been infected or where the cases were documented.
Animals Are Showing Symptoms Too
A separate alert from Harrison County Parks and Recreation, covering the Alden Valley area, adds a second front. As of October 25th, Parks confirmed animals in and around the valley are behaving strangely: losing their fear of people, drooling heavily, moving toward sound, reacting badly to sunlight, and acting aggressively.
Parks said some of the symptoms line up with Chronic Wasting Disease, which affects deer and elk, but that the same behavior has shown up in other animals living in the valley. The department said it cannot confirm a link to the lab breach reported near Kaslo. It did confirm one fatal attack on a person. The deer involved was put down by Rangers and is being analyzed.
Parks’ guidance for anyone in Alden Valley is blunt: stay armed, and call 911 if you see any of the listed behavior. Anyone injured by an animal showing symptoms should call 911 and get themselves or the injured person into a secure, locked room or a secluded area, and mark their position with a torch, glowstick, flare, or other light. The alert also says anyone trying to enter the Headquarters or the Whitetail lookout will be turned away.
Orange Suits at the Alyson Line
Late Monday night, residents spotted people in orange hazmat-style suits near the Alyson city limits. Screenshots shared with The Harrison Independent show the suited group at a roadside checkpoint, coned off near the Village of Alyson sign, with one member pointing a rifle at a green-skinned figure standing in the roadside grass. Other images show suited personnel gathered around a person on the ground inside a station garage, with voices in the room shouting “contaminated zone,” “lock the doors,” and “get them out.”
It is not clear who the suited individuals are or which agency, if any, they answer to. Neither AlysonCo’s advisory nor the Parks alert mentions a checkpoint, and The Harrison Independent has not independently confirmed what happened at either location.
What We Don’t Know
Plenty. No agency has said how many people are infected, whether the person killed in Alden Valley was infected, or whether the quarantine AlysonCo describes is in place. The County Government has not publicly detailed its role. Residents who see symptoms in people or animals are being told by both sources to call 911 and keep their distance.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.