Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Hot Zone is a nonfiction novel by Richard Preston, a novel of a devastating disease originated in Africa that traveled to the United States. The journey of the four deadly disease sisters, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan , Ebola Reston, and Marburg. Witnesses of this disease states that it makes AIDS look like child's play, as a minor cough. Ebola Zaire has a ninety percent death rate. The victims of this disease bleeds through every hole in the body. It is named after its first victim, a nurse named Zaire. They bleed through their noses ,eyes and any open cuts. The first known man to have suffered from Ebola is traced back to Mount Elgon and a Kitum cave in Kenya near the Nzoia river. The devastation would soon reach the Unites States someway somehow.
Zaire can also travel through sexual intercourse as is AIDS and Charles Monet its first victim known to man was known for having sex with prostitutes. Zaire was able to spread through Africa and eventually came to the United States through monkeys. Monkeys shipped for research. This bio hazardous virus an quickly jump species from monkeys to humans unlike Reston the little sister. Scientists and researchers have come upon the discovery that Zaire is made up of seven proteins most of which have never been discovered by men.
Preston interviewed many people such as Nancy Jaxx and her husband, both who worked in the bio hazard level 4 for the Army. Nancy had two children, feared almost nothing and had a dying father back home, She dissected monkeys for tissues from the liver and kidneys and later ran tests to determine the makeup of this disease. The other sister is Sudan, the which was first founded in Sudan. It killed people as usual and soon rose up a bigger problem.
The nurses in that particular region were reusing needles, a perfect way for the virus to come into interaction. They would rinse the needles which really was useless since it as to be bleached for hours. The Army had to become involved since the monkeys were coming in the United States. The Army generals that worked closely to help stop the spread were Peter Jargling, Jerry Jaax, C.J. James. They all worked at USAMRIID in the Army.
Charles Monet exploded with Marburg on a plane and bled out. The specific thing about these viruses is that once they get access to anything international they can be found anywhere in the world. It is predicted that Marburg is able to travel though the air. Charles after experiencing extreme headaches and muscle aches boarded a plane to the biggest hospital in the capital. He boarded that plane in , unfortunately an international airport. In his lifetime Monet was traveling through the Kitum cave where there are crystals that have researchers thinking is the root of the virus.
The less evil sister is known as Reston. This is particularly one of the most important ones because it has no harm on humans. Although it is closely and biologically related to Zaire and Sudan, it doesn't kill people. How is this so? Reston first arrived in the C.D.C. in the monkeys. They were transported for the purpose of studies to e made. Then suddenly the monkeys would not eat and went absolutely crazy. This was particularly harsh because the workers in the building wore no level 4 suits to care for the animals. This meant that they were all infected.
At the moment even the scientists who examined the tissues were not as careful as could have been. The next obvious task was to compare viruses with Zaire and Sudan. Now the Army had to get involve. The Army had the main power and the money to take care of the whole building. They could clean the building and kill every monkey in the C.D.C. building but they did not have legal jurisdiction.
Both parties never wanted to include lawyers in the process. They agreed that this would taken care of quietly without the media. In that time period Jerry lost his brother in a shooting, and Nancy's father died miles away while she was dissecting monkeys. The army had to wake up early and dress in civilian wear and enter the building in bio hazard suits. Dr. Joseph McCormick accidentally stuck himself with a bloody needle and thought he should have died, luckily it was with Reston.
This made headway in the Army, all the researchers were wondering why the workers had not died after two weeks. They had come in very close contact with the virus. They suspected that there was some disruption in the DNA of the sisters, a major one that allowed Reston not to jump species. The problem might be that if any of these sisters come back it might be sadly mistaken as Reston and get mishandled. This was major outbreak in the Washington area. An outbreak that brought shame to AIDS. AIDS, one f the worst disease known to man. Ebola is the bulldozer that is able to wipe out the human race. The effects that cause pregnant women to die and their fetuses to come out bleeding.
The events of the book occurred in only twenty six years. In this short amount of time, this chain of siblings was able to reach half way across the world. they originated in different regions of the world but are related, contains similar DNA. This new virus jumps back and forth between species and has frightened our race. Never have we been so close to extinction. The scientific questions that rise are "what is this virus?", "where did it come from?" and most importantly"when is it coming back and what do we do if it does?". We were able to fight it off once and luckily it has returned to some deep forest, but what if that is not the case next time? Scientists have never discovered a group of proteins that is so deadly. We will never know if it is somewhere deep in the forest destroying habitats, getting stronger and deadlier. What if Zaire comes back and we mistake it for Reston. This whole ecosystem will be disturbed dramatically. The author's message is the simple fact that not enough people know about this. This was a major outbreak but most are still in the dark. The Army worried that too many people would have been so shocked and evacuated. It was hidden from the community. This book is revealing new science in our ecosystem. The deadly seven proteins that make up Ebola have never been witnessed by men. This virus was different more powerful and completely never seen before. Scientist every where are requesting tissue samples from victims of the disease. Tests are being run everywhere to try to prevent this epidemic from reoccuring. Fortunately,research at Iowa State University has helped many scientist discover just how the deadly Zaire Ebola virus decoys cells and eventually kills them. A research team led by Gaya Amarasinghe, an assistant professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology,has found a way to prove a critical part of an Ebola protein known as VP35, which is involved in host immune suppression. This protein masks the replicating RNA.
My reaction to this book is simply fear. Fear that the human race is not ready of what is to come of this virus. This could be the end of this planet as we know it