The book “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston tells the stories of many outbreaks and near outbreaks of filoviruses. Filoviruses are a family of viruses whose symptoms include fever and violent bleeding. This book is split into four parts, with the first focusing on a Marburg outbreak near Mount Elgon, the second focusing on an outbreak of Reston virus at a monkey house in Virginia, the third continuing the story of the Reston outbreak, and the fourth focusing on the author’s visit to Kitum Cave. Throughout the book, the author goes to great lengths to explain how ebola works and why it is so dangerous to humanity. In addition, he demonstrates the difficulty that people working with level 4 viruses face on a daily basis.
Part one, entitled “The Shadow of Mount Elgon”, tells of a Marburg outbreak in western Kenya. The outbreak began with Charles Monet. It is suggested that he became infected during a camping trip on the mountain. On this trip, Monet visited a place called Kitum Cave, and it is suspected that he picked up the virus there. After returning, Monet began getting headaches, and soon after that began vomiting. Monet’s condition continued to deteriorate until finally his coworkers decided that he must go to a hospital. He boarded a plane and arrived at Nairobi Hospital.
In the hospital waiting room, Monet went through the final phase of Marburg known as “bleeding out”. He passed out on the floor and began vomiting blood everywhere. Nurses brought him to the attention of Dr. Musoke; while the doctor was treating him, Monet vomited again and his blood splattered on Dr. Musoke. Monet died less than a day later,and Musoke began experiencing Monet’s symptoms nine days later. Musokes blood was shipped for testing t...
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... He finds no evidence of the Marburg virus in the cave, and leaves without any new information. His final trip is to the monkey house in Reston, where he notes that some life had returned to the building, but human life had all but deserted it.
“The Hot Zone” does a fantastic job detailing the horror that occurred during each of the outbreaks which it chronicled. Also, it gives its characters a human quality that can make the reader feel deeply sympathetic for them. Overall, the book was as thrilling as it was terrifying, and every chapter had a surprise in store. In addition, it gives the reader complex information about how filoviruses work without oversimplifying to reach a broader audience. With beautiful transitioning from story to story, this book was a fantastic read and anyone who is even slightly interested in how Ebola works should give it a try.
The book jumps to a distressing story about Peter Los in 1970 in West Germany who became ill due to smallpox. After ten days he was hospitalized but medical staff did not realize he had smallpox, which is highly contagious. Preston gives vivid descriptions of the disease and how it ravages the body. Los survived his illness, but caused an epidemic that killed many others that had become exposed to him. “Today, the people who plan for a smallpox emergency can’t get the image of the Meschede hospital out of their minds.
On Friday, December 7, the last monkey was finally put down. After this the decon team arrives. They seal off the building and heat these special crystals that kill everything that is living. Also, the team learns that Milton Frantig, the employee who had fallen ill, had recovered from what seemed to be the flu.
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 bled out which means when the host suddenly starts bleeding infectious blood out of every orifice in the body.
Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: the True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2003. Print.
The medical field is a vast land of beauty but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife. The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes.
This lead to the demise of the population when the disease was transported through the heart of an infected man. Once the doctors completed the heart transplant, the man came to life with the generic grey blood and he was much more hostile.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Plagues and Peoples. By William H. McNeill. (New York: Anchor Books: A division of Random House, Inc., 1976 and Preface 1998. Pp. 7 + 365. Acknowledgements, preface, map, appendix, notes, index.)
Disease split his time into the life before and the life now and it will inevitably take his life as a tribute to its devastating power. Not knowing if he will survive long enough to finish his book, Monette accepted his fate and gave up the hope of getting cured. Still taking his medicine and waiting for a medical breakthrough mostly as a matter of habit, he recognizes that the disease wiped off holidays from his calendar and left only one date to remember – that of his lover’s death.
Once they finally become aware of it, they must decide what measures they will take to fight the deadly plague.... ... middle of paper ... ... In the long run, not only was the town separated, but so were the people.
Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonotic disease that is arthropod-borne.1, 2, 3, 4 This viral disease primarily affects domestic animals but has the ability to affect humans.1, 3, 4 The severity of the disease can range from mild to severe and can be potentially fatal.1 An epidemic in the animal population, also known as an epizootic, could result in increased economic loss as the disease leads to livestock death and spontaneous abortion among pregnant animals .1, 2, 3, 4 A reduction in trade could also result contributing to further economic loss.1, 2, 3, 4 The virus which causes Rift Valley Fever is in the family Bunyaviridae and the genus Phlebovirus.1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Thesis Statement: The deadly virus Ebola is killing thousands of innocent people world wide, but there are some simple steps that are being taken to prevent this coming tide of death.
Marburg Virus is an acute and fatal strand of Filoviridae, there should be a heightened awareness of this virus since it is the predecessor of Ebola and devastated the world first with hemorrhaging. There is no cure and it’s believed to be transferred from primate to human contact. While there has only been one case in the United States of America, this virus devastated Europe and Africa over the years.
...ary 2014)”. The Ebola epidemic helps remind the U.S. That other nations are there to work with them, and unite to prevent a rapid growing disease. CDC partners with programs from other nations, such as the Global Disease Detection Centers, and the Field Epidemiology Training Program, which work to stop the Ebola virus. Information systems will grow stronger, more partnerships dedicated to stopping outbreaks will be formed and laboratory security will also grow. The writer of the paper cannot agree more to this.
It was a bubonic plague that came from Asia and spread by black rats infested with fleas. The plague spread like a wildfire because people who lived in high populated areas were living very close to each other and had no idea what was the cause of the disease or how to cure it. The signs of the “inevitable death” where blood from the nose, fever, aching and swellings big as an “apple” in the groin or under the armpits. From there the disease spread through the body in different directions and soon after it changed into black spots that appeared on the arms and thighs. Due to the lack of medical knowledge, no doctors manage to find a remedy. Furthermore a large number of people without any kind of medical experience tried to help the sick but most of them failed “...there was now a multitude both of men and of women who practiced without having received the slightest tincture of medical science - and, being in ignorance of its source, failed to apply the proper remedies…” (Boccaccio). The plague was so deadly that it was enough for a person to get infected by only touching the close of the
The Ebola Virus is breaking out in many countries, according to the U.S Senate documents. The countries Ebola has taken over have very limited resources and this makes it difficult to tranquil the disease. The disease is being spread faster than it can be controlled. At first we only heard about Ebola in other countries, but when it spread to the United States, our country started to worry and we became stressed. “If we take proper safety measurements the outbreaks can be minimized and hopefully prevented (Federal Info)”.