The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Title: The Hot Zone

Author: Richard Preston

Setting: early 1980 to late 1993, from Africa to Washington D.C

“The Hot Zone” is a nonfiction book, the story is real by gathering reports from interviewing with the characters. The though transaction is the made up by logic, and the dialogs are not quite accurate as names of characters sometimes are alas. Richard Preston put himself in danger to just get the story as accurate as he could. The description of the affect of the rain forest, the behavior and other facts that is carefully described within the book showed that he is experience within the science world.

First off starting of the story show the observation of \the Elgon forest when volcano erupts turning trees into stone. Starting off the source of a virus host, by a man called Charlest Monet. Monet a victim of the Marburg virus, a dangerous virus which arrives from Germany. If a virus is discovered, most likely it is named after the place where it came from. Marburg is just one of the four sisters, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and Ebola Reston. All of these virus have the same ways of getting transmitted, aerosol routes, blood to blood contact or to the eyes, and sexually transmitted.

These sisters of viruses are being compared to AIDS and HIV through out the story. The source were mostly from Africa, as AIDS is the first known virus to mankind that have no cure. These viruses can disperse and spread through a net work, for example an airplane, a bar or a hospital, etc. Unlike AIDS and HIV, the sisters of viruses can travel through the air and cause the effect within two weeks. These viruses do what AIDS take ten years to accomplish. The effects of Marburg and Ebola viruses are similar, but Ebola is more dangerous. These are the sign of symptoms when you are infected, it happens in two phases. Phase 1: Sudden on set, headache, chills, fever, and myalgia. Phase 2: Maculopapular rash, trunk rash, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, sore throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, jaundice, pancreas inflammation, severe weight lost, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, multi-organs dysfunction. After these two phases, you will meet the “crashed and bled out” or “ gone down”, it is when you die and blood will come out in every holes of your body. What the virus is doing is to replicate and take control of the human cells, the first noticeable thing about the infection is the red eyes. Why? It is because the cells have reach the brain and cause brain damage, as days go by it is the process of depersonalization. Which means the person have already die, but what’s left of them is still there. That person now is basically a zombie.

As the source of the known factors that carries these viruses the most are monkeys. The body of a monkey is so familiar human, that’s why scientists operate on the monkeys by injecting them with the virus and try to solve the equation. The operation involving these virus is called level 4 biohazard safety, when the operator have to wear a space suit that is protected by the air pressure to the inside so that it is safe to breath and the air won’t leak inside to get infected by the aerosol path. A monkeys house in Reston of Washington D.C now have monkeys that eat crabs to operate on. The scientist there first known that the monkeys were dying day by day. It was first diagnose as SHF( Simian hemorrhagic fever), a virus that is only harmful to monkeys not human. Then later on the death rates got out of control and the samples were being sent to USAMRIID( United State Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases)in Maryland. The institute were known for its biohazard work to cure bio weapons. So now after a few tests were taken, it is known to look like a strain of Ebola Zaire.

The panic is showing in every scientists face, but action is needed to be taken. As the institute contact the army for support and authority. Disposing of the house full of a dangerous virus must be avoided at all cost from the media or else it might cost a panic, especially within Washington D.C. It would make number one epidemic , but action were being taken and the media was avoided safely. Later on after the disposing of the house, a few workers have meet some symptoms of sickness, but it never got worse. It is then discovered that the Ebola Zaire virus look exactly the same as the new virus that is discovered. This virus is called the Ebola Reston, which still have an unknown cause and affect. It is still belief that all of the Ebola virus can travel through the air, but there were people who have sniff the air around the dangerous area and ended up okay. Same to exposure of blood to blood contact, but the virus didn’t have any effect. This is a mystery of death that’s still not a hundred percent accurate.

This book have cause an amazing change in the science society, as it is being said by the author. The earth itself is a living thing that is fighting back human with its immune system as these viruses. There is no vaccine, there is no possible treatments. As the immune system first delivered as AIDS, slowly staying in the human body for one day to strike. It shows the world that virus is also a thread to the community, so it will be caution to keep people healthy and take careful transactions between network to net work. There’s no definite source of these viruses, but one day it will set up an outbreak. Scientists are working hard to make sure what can be taken in measure of that kind of situation. Richard Preston himself have gone through Africa and go through the Kitum Cave to look for himself. Two victims of the Marburg virus have went through this cave and die afterwards. Richard came out survived with his space suit, showing his appearance were hard among the story being written down, but he made it for everyone to know about these events.