Essay on The Hot Zone

The Hot Zone, written by Richard Preston is the true and dramatic story of the outbreaks of the frightening, unknown and incurable filoviruses; Marburg, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and Ebola Reston. This book covers the first documented outbreak of the virus and continues to cover more outbreaks over the course of 23 years. These sisters viruses are highly infective and destroyed entire communities throughout Africa with the deaths of 50- 90% of their victims. The effects are similar and horrifying with the viruses penetrating every tissue and organ in the body of a person, primate or other animal. This book takes place in the late 1980s and is based on an outbreak of Ebola in a monkey house in the quaint town of Reston, Virginia. Richard Preston incorporates tales of several outbreaks that occurred in Africa years before to describe the potential destruction that the filoviruses could

can barely recover by lying on his back and taking deep breaths, after which he has to

This book displays the historical encounters and effects of the Ebola virus have had on past lives and how the virus functions to destroy its host.

In class we got a chance to discuss Ebola in the US and in Africa. As known, the US certainly have less cases and deaths due to Ebola in comparison to countries all over Africa. In terms of the reading in addition to the lecture by Haneefa Saleem, the class learned about what is the Ebola virus and its history, the affect it has on a person and their community in addition to how the world has perceived this virus. Thankfully, the US does not have to go through the effects of living in an Ebola epidemic because of the certain precautions taken when a case arise and the steps taken further for primary and secondary prevention. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Africa. There are always new cases of Ebola arises in different parts of Africa and it still continues to be a threat

The narrative now flashes back to 1976 and the outbreak of two strains of the Ebola virus, beginning with Yu G. A quiet storekeeper in the town of Nzara, Sudan, Yu G. dies at home from Ebola and is buried in a traditional Zande funeral. It is unclear where or how Yu G. becomes infected, but a few days after his death, two of his co-workers develop similar symptoms. One of these men, known as P.G., has a wide circle of friends and exposes many people in the town. Before long, the Sudan strain of the virus has traveled to a hospital in the town of Maridi, where it quickly spreads through the medical staff and patients. The outbreak ends only when the surviving medical staff abandons the hospital and inadvertently break the chain of infection.

My name is Drishna Perumal and I attend Olentangy Orange High School, class of 2016. After high school I hope to go to medical school and graduate with a MD-PhD and pursue my career goals as a physician. I am a rising senior in high school who is aspiring to be a medical professional that helps people of all walks to be treated to a healthier and better lifestyle. I chose the Ebola virus for my project because it’s one of the most deadly diseases known to man that still has an impact on our civilization now. In addition, the amount of damage this microscopic organism can cause in a short amount of time is truly fascinating.

The current Ebola virus breakout that is pervading West Africa and that recently surfaced in the United States represents one of the largest viral pandemics known to date. Within three months, the breakout set the record as the widest sweeping and most fatal of any known Ebola pandemic (“Ebola Outbreak Sets Sobering Record” 1432). To date, there is no known cure or vaccination that has been proven to treat the virus. Furthermore, the current regions of West Africa facing the brunt of the outbreak are ill-equipped to face such a widespread and immersing plague. Despite the extensive response from the global network, which has ranged anywhere from increases in aid workers and medical supplies to heightened research and testing, the Ebola outbreak

The recent outbreak of Ebola has promoted international involvement from many organizations and governments. Most of these efforts have been focused on short-term solutions to control the disease. However, while many organizations provided medical workers, aid, and supplies to combat Ebola, their actions were insufficient to stop the spread of disease. There remains a multitude of problems in Sub-Saharan Africa, including lack of locally trained medical professionals and poor coordination between global health organizations and governments. Ultimately, these issues must be addressed in order to stop the spread of Ebola as well as other infectious diseases.

Ebola has affected many African countries such as Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In fact, “these countries have experienced the largest known Ebola virus disease epidemic with approximately 13,000 persons infected as of October 28, 2014” (Chevalier, Chung, & Smith, 2014). Then in late September 2014, a 45-year-old male who had arrived in the United States from Liberia 5 days earlier went to a Texas emergency department. It then came to the attention that this patient had Ebola and the CDC implemented appropriate guidelines to the hospital of Texas. These guidelines were implemented in order to prevent an Ebola outbreak. In fact, everyone who was in direct contact of the patient had daily monitoring for 21 days after the exposure (Cases,

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopædia. Ebola. N/A: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014. Web. 22 10 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1389918/Ebola>.

The fatal Ebola virus is threatening the lives of West African people. The virus is communicable, able to spread in different ways according to the development and severity. At the low risk point of the virus, Ebola travels through bodily fluids. When evolved, there is a possibility to become air born. Monkeys, pigs, or fruit bats infected with the virus that come in contact with humans start the spreading. There are many health workers being sent to West Africa to teach the people of Liberia’s Foya District, Sierra Leone, and Guinea how to prevent further spreading of Ebola. In addition, isolation units are being built in these locations as an attempt to prevent further spreading of this deadly virus.

The mayhem had started one bright morning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then known as Zaire, by a man named Mabalo Lokela. Lokela had just entered his town’s clinic with a high fever, and his helping nurse though nothing of it. Although society today understands the statistics of Ebola, and how the epidemic spreads, Mabalo and his nurse had no insight to how powerful his sickness really was. He soon went home with a dose of quinine and a rested mind, but little did he know there was a storm brewing inside his very own body. Lokela died a week later, creating mystery for both his community and the scientists later studying him (Close 552). He was the first to succumb to this disease, but he certainly was not the

I heard the sound of his walker hitting the ground, followed by a thump, and silence. I just happened to be standing outside of his apartment with a coworker when we both stared at each other with that sensation of terror, knowing this was not the occasional fall of a resident in an assisted living facility.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa first broke the news in March 2014. Considered an epidemic, this outbreak killed five times more than any other Ebola outbreak combined. The virus is traced back to a two year old toddler who died in a south-eastern Guinea small village in December 2013. It took nearly three months for the health officials to identify the cause of people’s illness was Ebola. At that point, the virus had already spread and was set to explode around the world. West Africa was not prepared for this type of epidemic, the clinics had never managed this type of case, there was no laboratory to diagnose the patients, and the government had never witnessed that type of upheaval. The people initially denied the crisis because they didn’t understand why, how, or what had hit them.

4. What are the steps that help prevent John from getting the disease when he travels back to Africa? Or is it possible that his body develop immunity against the disease that he does not have to worry about?