Elephant Caves (Hot Zone)

“They had no idea what had killed him. It was an unexplained death…It was as if Monet had become a corpse before his death” (Preston, 21). The powerful language and imagery used in Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, engages the reader in a true story about an infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest. The Hot Zone is capable of enlightening the common civilian about the Ebola virus.

The book initiates with Charles Monet, a French man, exposing himself to the deadly virus in the jungle of Mount Elgon. Preston’s graphic description of Charles Monet’s death, explains the symptoms of Ebola, red eyes, head and back aches. After taking a small plane to the Nairobi hospital and exposing the virus to the other passengers on the plane, he begins to vomit blood and a black substance. After Monet bleed out in the waiting room, Dr. Musoke was able to assist Monet. The Ebola virus was unknown at that time and without knowing it, Dr. Musoke was exposed to this deadly virus. Because of no knowledge about the existing and deadly virus, Musoke diagnoses himself with malaria and typhoid fever but realizes that nothing seems to cure him. He is later on diagnosed with Marburg. More deaths of the Virus are discussed in the book and more and more people seem to be infected by this virus. It was understood that all the people infected by this unknown virus would die within a week.

The news about this unknown, uncontrollable and unpredictable virus spread worldwide. Nancy Jaax, a veterinarian researcher that works with USAMRIID (U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) went on a search with other scientist. They were later on capable of figuring the birthplace of this virus. Unfortunately the virus was not found in the designated. When some scientist realized that monkeys from the area had broken out with the virus. After observing the monkeys, scientists were able to know that the virus liquefies the internal organs of the monkeys. From blood tests, it was evident that the virus that the monkeys were infected with is not the Marburg virus but a strain of it. The center is then treated as a “hot zone” and has to be decontaminated from the virus. Eventually, many monkeys were killed and the location was decontaminated. This book ends with the author, Richard Preston visiting the cave where the host of the Ebola virus might still be.

This book is relevant to biology because it is a record of an actual virus outburst. It explains the way the not only the Ebola virus spreads through the world but also any air born virus is easily dispersed. When Monet is on the plane, he easily contaminates the air with the virus and endangers the rest of the passengers to the virus.