The Infection cards are shuffled, then the top 3 cards are flipped over. Then 3 Disease cubes of the matching color are put on each of those cities.
3 more cards are flipped over: 2 Disease cubes are placed on each of the cities.
3 more cards are flipped over: 1 Disease cube is placed on each of the cities.
(A total of 18 Disease cubes are placed, each matching the color of the city.)
These 9 cards are placed face up on the Infection Discard Pile. The other Infection cards form the Infection Deck.
The Infection Rate marker begins in the first position on the infection rate track.