The destruction of the ER sets up the events for the pilot of Chicago Med (2015) 7 months later when the new ER opens. Many of the characters from the pending series appear here.
S. Epatha Merkerson plays Sharon Goodwin of Chicago Med. She was in another Dick Wolf production Law & Order where she played Lieutenant Anita Van Buren.
The strain is like Ebola an hemorrhagic fever. It was called by the german town of Marburg where several people died of it as it goes through the air conditioning. This virus can circulate by air.