“The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by human parasite.”
―Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, speaking about Ebola
Ebola is the deadliest viral disease by bleeding. It is known to attack everything in the human body, but the skeletal muscle and bone. The name Ebola comes for the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Dudley 22) The Ebola Virus is one of the two members of the filovirus family. (Ryan 244) The other member of the family is hemorrhagic fever which Ebola cause you to get the fever. There are four different strains of Ebola each similar to one another. Researchers believe that the virus is animal-borne and is normally in animal host that is native to Africa. The Ebola cannot survive by itself and needs either a host or a reservoir for its continued existence. The first recorded outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever occurred in 1976 in Africa in Zaire. (Oldstone 130) Right after the outbreak in Zaire an outbreak occurred in Sudan. Together, these outbreaks infected over six hundred people and killed over fifty percent of them. Ebola is classified as a level four pathogen meaning it is very lethal. Ebola is termed as `hot' virus because of its lethal infective agent. (Preston 4) Ebola is rod-shaped, with coiled strands of RNA along with a little hook at one end. Its genome is contained in a helical nucleocapsid, and the whole virus is enveloped. (Ryan 321) The RNA contain seven mysterious proteins that are joined together to make the virus work like an eating machine and allows its self to make copies the RNA to help destroy the bodies of the victims.(Garrett 6)
Researches have figured out that the Ebola virus remains stable at room temperature (20°C), ...
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...ses. (Regis 145) It is possible to say that this disease can be transmitted from monkeys to humans. It is not known at this time the trends that the Ebola has. The Ebola virus will probably reappear in places where there are lots of monkeys in the population such as Asia and Africa. There is no drug or treatment that can cure Ebola, but there are ways to prevent Ebola from spreading. As of this time there is no information about a person who has caught Ebola twice and lived to tell about it, so it is impossible to say if a person is immune to the virus after they survive a first episode. The Ebola virus is very deadly and anyone who comes in contact with it will most likely die.
“The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by human parasite.”
― Richard Preston, The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
In The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the account of the evolution of Ebola—where it originated and how it spread throughout Africa and other parts of the world before finally making its way to the United States—the point of view was not biased or fallacious, though it may have been slightly exaggerated. However, despite this, it was also the perfect choice of point of view to tell the story in.
The novel, “The Hot Zone”, by Richard Preston, is an extraordinary tale about a virus called the Ebola virus. The author interviews a number of different people that all had encounters with the virus and records their stories. He is very interested by what they tell him and throughout the novel he is always seeking to find more information about it. There were many different encounters in this book but in my summary I am going to explain the ones that interested me the most.
It is so lethal that nine out of ten of its victims die. Later, geniuses at USAMRIID found out that it wasn't Zaire! but a new strain of Ebola. which they named Ebola Reston. This was added to the list of strains: Ebola.
In Richard Preston’s “The Hot Zone” there is the overarching theme which is that nature is a power that dwarfs the achievements and power that humans possess. This lends to the consideration that humans should strive to understand the viruses and diseases that nature “throws” at the human race. Preston uses gruesome imagery, and characterization to persuade the reader to take the direction of overcoming the viruses and horrors of nature through research to better society.
In the New York Times interview of Richard Preston, the well renowned author of The Hot Zone, is conducted in order to shed some light on the recent Ebola outbreak and the peaked re-interest in his novel. The Hot Zone is articulated as “thriller like” and “horrifying.” Preston uses similar diction and style choices corresponding with his novel. By choosing to use these specific methods he is advertising and promoting The Hot Zone to the audience members that are interested in reading, and reaching out to those who read and enjoyed his novel. He continuously grabs and keeps the reader’s attention by characterizing and personifying Ebola as the “enemy [and] the invisible monster without a face” in order to give the spectators something to grasp and understand the Ebola virus. Along with characterization, Preston uses descriptions with laminate
The Hot Zone is a true story about how the knowledge of the Ebola virus was first developed and the background behind it. The Ebola virus kills nine out of ten of its victims and it kills quickly and painfully. It is extremely contagious and the blood and vomit the victim lets out can spread the virus quickly. The Hot Zone goes into detail about the experience of getting to the bottom of the Ebola Virus. The story begins with the tale of a French man, Charles Monet, who lived on a plantation in western Kenya.
Ebola, a virus which acquires its name from the Ebola River (located in Zaire, Africa), first emerged in September 1976, when it erupted simultaneously in 55 villages near the headwaters of the river. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and resulted in the deaths of nine out of every ten victims. Although it originated over 20 years ago, it still remains as a fear among African citizens, where the virus has reappeared occasionally in parts of the continent. In fact, and outbreak of the Ebola virus has been reported in Kampala, Uganda just recently, and is still a problem to this very day. Ebola causes severe viral hemorrhagic fevers in humans and monkeys, and has a 90 % fatality rate. Though there is no cure for the disease, researchers have found limited medical possibilities to help prevent one from catching this horrible virus.
The Ebola Virus is an extremely deadly virus found in Africa. There have been multiple outbreaks across Africa and one in the United States. The Ebola virus basically causes uncontrollable bleeding externally and internally. Then your organs become liquefied. This usually results in death(www.encyclopedia.com). The following report contains info on the characteristics and history of the Ebola Virus.
The Ebola virus and Marburg virus are the two known members of the Filovirus family. Marburg is a relative of the Ebola virus. The four strains of Ebola are Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston, and Ebola Tai. Each one is named after the location where it was discovered. These filoviruses cause hemorrhagic fever, which is actually what kills victims of the Ebola virus. Hemorrhagic fever is defined as a group of viral aerosol infections, characterized by fever, chills, headache, fatigue, and respiratory symptoms. This is followed by capillary hemorrhages, and, in severe infection, kidney failure, hypotension, and, possibly, death. The incubation period for Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever ranges from 2-21 days. The blood fails to clot and patients may bleed from injection sites and into the gastrointestinal tract, skin and internal organs. Massive destruction of the liver is one distinct symptom of Ebola. This virus does in ten days what it takes AIDS ten years to do. It also requires bio-safety level four containment, the highest and most dangerous level. HIV the virus that causes AIDS requires only a bio-safety level of two. In reported outbreaks, 50%-90% of cases have been fatal.
The Ebola-Zaire branch was the first to be recognized and has the highest death rate of 89 percent. The Ebola-Sudan subtype has a death rate of 53 percent, and the Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever virus as a whole having a 68 percent death rate. Since the Ebola virus has not been recognized for a long time, it cannot be said for sure how it is transmitted though it is believed to be zoonotic, meaning that it is transmitted by animals and from contact with the virus, making it spread quickly through family and friends. It also transmits itself nosocomially, where it can transmit quickly through a health care environment, like a hospital. This is especially dangerous in places like Africa,...
This virus is similar to Ebola, because it started in the same place. Lab workers in Germany, in 1967, contracted the new virus while working with African Green Monkeys, which had the virus. The virus is described as a hemorrhagic fever. It has a fatality rate up to 90% and spreads through human to human contact. The first symptoms can be as simple as a fever and a headache, then can progress to organ failure, and fatal internal bleeding.
Swenson, Robert. “Plagues, History, and AIDS.” American Scholar 57.2 (1988): 183-200. Academic Journal. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Ebola from everyone’s point of view is seen as inferno. Dr. Steven Hatch’s memorable journey began with him volunteering to leave for Liberia in 2013 to work at a hospital in Monrovia to fight Ebola in one of its most affected areas. There were only a few patients with Ebola when he arrived. The number of patients rapidly increased over his time in Liberia. After six months Ebola was declared a world health emergency and not only were ordinary people outside of the hospital getting the virus but the medical personnel that were tending to the patients had caught it and some of them had even died.
In 1976 the first two Ebola outbreaks were recorded. In Zaire and western Sudan five hundred and fifty people reported the horrible disease. Of the five hundred and fifty reported three hundred and forty innocent people died. Again in 1995 Ebola reportedly broke out in Zaire, this time infecting over two hundred and killing one hundred and sixty. (Bib4, Musilam, 1)
One of the current major concerns in the world is the outbreak of Ebola. Ebola is a infectious disease that comes from the Ebola virus and it can cause death if the patient is left untreated. The disease can be managed with treatment of the patient, however. Ebola is a disease that is a major concern in the Subsaharan African Realm, and in the North American Realm,but it is beginning to be dealt with sufficiently in the Northern American Realm.