The Hot Zone Summary

* The Reston Ebolavirus was discovered during an outbreak of Simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV) in crab-eating macaques from Hazleton Laboratories (now Covance) in 1989. Since the initial outbreak in Reston, Virginia, it has emerged in Siena Italy, Texas, and among pigs in the Philippines. Despite its status as a Level-4 organism, it is non-pathogenic to humans although hazardous in monkeys.

Richard Preston’s novel The Hot Zone, was based on a true story about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, mainly the Ebola and Marburg viruses. It primarily focuses on the Ebola virus’ first documented outbreak during the 1980s. As you read The Hot Zone, you will notice that it has been divided into four individual segments. The first segment looks into the history of filoviruses, and how AIDS emerged. The novel begins with Charles Monet, an elderly man who travels to Kitum Cave in Kenya. After coming in contact with an odd liquid substance, he begins to experience symptoms of the Marburg Virus (abbreviated as “MARV”), which includes; headaches, backaches, internal organs failing, and excessive bleeding. Monet travels to the Nairobi Hospital and ends up infecting the young Doctor that treated him. Years after Monet’s passing, a young pathologist named Nancy Jaax is introduced. Her story was told in her point of view as she describes the Introduction to Viruses, Biosafety Levels, and

The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston, is a non-fiction story about the deadly virus (Ebola) spreading throughout the world. Certain strains of this virus are 90% fatal, and cause horrible symptoms, such as facial drooping, muscle aches, reddened eyes, and puking. The Ebola virus was traced back to a man named Charles Monet. After Monet, the virus spread rapidly, and it was leaving no survivors.

In his book The Hot Zone, Richard Preston accounts the journey of the hemorrhagic fevers from their first modern appearances in 1967 to 1993. Preston follows twelve characters along their journey working with or against Ebola. “Charles Monet” was a Frenchman who explored Kitum Cave on New Years eve 1980 and violently dies of Marburg 2 days later. He is the first case since the original outbreak in Germany in 1967, which was believed to be caused by the shipment of monkeys from West Africa. LTC Nancy Jaax was an Army veterinary pathologist who begins working with the Ebola virus in 1983, and then becomes chief of Pathology at USAMRIID in 1989, as such she is heavily involved in the Reston monkey house disaster. COL Jerry Jaax, husband to Nancy was chief of the veterinary division as USAMRIID. He also lead the SWAT team that took over the Reston monkey house. “Peter Cardinal” was a Danish boy who died of Marburg in 1987 after visiting Kitum Cave. Eugene Johnson was a civilian virus hunter, specializing in Ebola. In 1988 he lead an Army expedition to Kitum Cave following the death of “Peter Cardinal”. Dan Dalgard was lead veterinarian at the

fast as HIV. "Ebola does in ten days what it takes HIV ten years to accomplish,"

Charles Monet: He was the first host to the deadly ebola virus breakout in Africa. He was 56 years old and was kind of a loner according to the authors interviews with people. 2. Dr. Mosoke: He was Charles Monets doctor when Charles crashed and

Richard Preston, the author of The Hot Zone, wanted us to believe two things. The first is that the viruses explained throughout the novel, such as Marburg and Ebola, are nature’s defense against the “infectious parasite” that the human race is on this planet. He emphasizes that the horrible viruses are the earth’s way of punishing the human race for taking over and for preventing their future expansion. The second thing he wanted us to believe is the idea that the Ebola virus could spread very rapidly if it’s airborne. In today’s society, with the use of airplanes, it’s very easy for viruses such as Ebola which are airborne to spread all over the world, and “feed” on a variety of hosts around the world. In the novel, many of the outbreaks

In his book, The Hot Zone, Richard Preston focuses on an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Reston, Virginia and in multiple places in Africa. To show how dangerous an outbreak can be, Preston examines, in great detail, various other viral outbreaks, including Marburg. Preston begins by talking about a fifty-six year old Frenchman named Charles Monet who ends up breaking out with a treacherous disease called Marburg. This wasn’t known until his doctor, Dr. Shem Musoke, ended up testing positive for Marburg after Monet`s infected blood went all over Doctor Musoke as Monet was dying. Musoke survived his outbreak with Marburg.

Published in 1992, “The Hot Zone”, written by Richard Preston, describes the Ebola outbreak during the 1980’s in Reston, Virginia. The novel effectively describes the African outbreaks and the research behind them as well as the quarantine of the monkey facility in Virginia. The book begins by introducing Charles Monet, who was the first person infected in the African outbreak. Charles and his girlfriend traveled to Mount Elgon, located in West Kenya.

First discovered in the 1970’s, the ebola virus was contained to West Africa (“About Ebola Virus Disease”). Villagers’ diets consisted primarily of the resources readily available. Among these resources were fruit, vegetables, and animals, namely monkeys. Monkeys carried the ebola virus, and when people ate them, without proper cleaning and cooking techniques, they became infected. Ebola, formally known as Zaire Ebola Virus, is transmitted through bodily fluids like saliva, blood, semen, breast milk, mucus, sweat, tears, feces and urine. ("Ebola in West Africa."). Since it was introduced to a third world country, where hygiene is not regarded as important as survival. Without education, protection and segregated sewage, the virus began to spread. In days people were dying after spreading the virus to those closest to them (Waterman). The bodies, though dead, were still harboring the virus and

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

These past years I spent my time tracking the virus of Ebola as well as its various strains all over the world. At first I didn’t know of the disease, only of the mysterious deaths. I had heard a rumor of a man by the name of Monet who had become mysteriously sick with a disease that none have seen. This information led me to Nairobi, Kenya where the man was supposed to be. When I arrived at Nairobi Hospital I didn’t encounter the man of my search. I questioned a nurse, who asked not to be named, and she stated “A very sick man named Monet came to the hospital looking very zombie like and died but not before exploding over the waiting room and the doctors and nurses who were operating on him. Also Dr. Musoke was infected and is now unconscious.” I then started to search for Dr. Silverstein who had cared for Dr. Musoke. When I found Dr. Silverstein I told him what I why I was there. Though he was reluctant to reveal information, I convinced him to tell me that Dr. Musoke was positive for a virus known as Marburg. Apparently He had never heard of Marburg so I went to investigate. My sources found out that Marburg is an African virus but was first discovered in Marburg, Germany. In 1967 a factory that was working with African green monkeys from Uganda. The virus spread throughout the monkeys causing monkeys to crash and bleed out, and soon after the virus jumped species and infect first a man called Klaus F. The virus spread killing seven of the thirty one people who were

In the year 1967 a disease called the Marburg virus (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, was discovered. MVD was identified during epidemics in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia (now Serbia) from importation of infected African green monkeys from Uganda. Thirty-one people became sick, first the laboratory staff, followed by several family members and medical personnel who took care of the ill laboratory workers. Seven deaths were reported. The very first people infected were researching the imported African Green monkeys or the tissue of the monkeys while conducting research.

Reading this article, I was most intrigued by the fact that Ebola has been occurring since 1976. Hearing the news, I assumed that this was a new virus that had risen, but I was wrong. However, this outbreak has been the biggest one,

In 2013, the most widespread epidemic of the Ebola virus in history broke out in West Africa. My first introduction to the virus was in the following year, when popular media and news outlets across the United States picked up the story as Ebola became less of a foreign illness and more of a true threat to the nation’s health in the event that someone happened to carry it back from Africa. For years, I have had a fascination with medicine and pathology, and when I first read the news, my thoughts went first to how the virus had managed to spread so quickly. Now, as the threat has faded from the news and the concerns of the domestic United States, my attention has turned to the nature of the spread of infectious diseases. I was