I would strongly recommend this book to someone else. It is a real story that encompasses the events in history surrounding a virus outbreak in Africa and Virginia. It is very interesting to see all the process in handling and understanding the virus. This book is well written and gives the history, theories, and steps in an understandable, accurate manner. They fully explain the biohazard precautions, symptoms, and situations in great detail. I would absolutely recommend anyone to read this book. It keeps you on the edge and is very thrilling and educational. It allows you to truly and thoroughly understand the process of virus transmission as well as precautions. The Hot Zone is a nonfictional book that was published in 1994 based …show more content…
the true events of an outbreak that occurred around the 1980’s in Reston, Virginia and Kenya, Africa. Charles Monet, a Frenchman and loner, was the first victim of the outbreak after he explored the Kitum Cave and started presenting with symptoms. Nancy Jaax, a United States army veterinary was working with the Ebola Virus when she realized her glove was compromised with an open would on her hand, but she was not infected. After exploring the Kitum Cave, Peter Cardinal, a young Dutch boy, resembled Monet’s symptoms and died. A monkey house in Reston, Virginia was receiving ill and dead monkeys. Dan Dalgard dissected the monkeys and found swollen, hard organs inside the monkeys and assumed it was simian hemorrhagic fever. After he contacts the USARIID, Tom Geisbert and Peter Jahrling collect samples and take a whiff of them without knowing how the virus is transmitted, then discovered it was Ebola Zaire and contacted the Centers of Control Disease. The decision is made to exterminate the Ebola virus from the monkey house and the task is now given to the army. After closing down the monkey house, the Ebola Reston virus is added to the Ebola virus categories, but only affects primates and not humans. The virus soon reemerges and an employee of the Reston Monkey house becomes very ill, and the army decides to kill all the monkeys in the house. A sunbeam electric frying pan is used to exterminate and eradicate all living viruses and sterilize the building. At the end of the book, the author visits Kitum Cave to explore it and comes to the conclusion that Ebola will resurface. This novel encompasses many events in detail to fully explain the situation and allow the reader to understand what is happening.
On January 15, 1980, Charles Monet dies of Marburg at Nairobi Hospital. He was exploring the Kitum Cave in South Africa with one of his many girlfriends. A couple days after visiting the cave, he started experiencing various symptoms such as a throbbing pain, red eyes, headache, and later black vomit. He was transported by plane to the Nairobi hospital and bled out and soon died at the hospital, infecting Dr. Shem Musoke but not killing him. Musoke survives the virus and doesn’t spread it. It is said that he had a zombie like appearance and jaundice before he died. This event is significant because he is the first victim of the virus. Nancy Jaax, a mother and a USAMRIID officer, was preparing a meal for her family when she accidentally cuts her hand. On August 26, 1983 her suit is breached and blood is in her suit with her wound covered by multiple layers of cloth. She quickly leaves the bio containment where she was working with the Ebola virus. She takes off her suit and is relieved to see that the infected blood did not make it through her layers of cloth over her wound. This event is substantial because it shows the high risk and scare that she had when working with the dangerous virus. A young Dutch boy named Peter Cardinal was visiting Africa, near Kenya. After he and his older sister explored the Kitum Cave, his mother noticed he was looking ill. She quickly took him to the Kenya hospital and they realized his symptoms looked closely related to those of Charles Monet. After a few days in the hospital, Peter died on August 15, 1987 from bleeding out. This is important because both him and Monet visited the cave and became ill, therefore the virus must be located inside the cave. On October 4, 1989, the military and Centers for Control disease were alerted when the USAMRIID discovered that a hot virus was inside the
Reston Monkey House. Many of the monkeys started to die inside of the monkey house and the results from the monkeys resulted in the conclusion that the disease is very similar to the Ebola virus. They decide to lock down the Reston Monkey house and give Jerry Jaax the position to handle the operation. This is significant because the virus has now traveled into the United States through the primates. On December 18, 1989, the monkey house was finally cleared of monkeys and all living viruses using a device called the Sunbeam. The virus is given the name Ebola Reston because of the Reston Monkey house, and is not lethal to humans. This event is important because it eliminated all the viruses in the monkey house to ensure the safety of those in the United States from getting the virus.
Baseball is Michael’s only way to a better future. Michael, the main character in the book “Heat” by Mike Lupica, is a 12 year old boy who moved to New York from Cuba. Michael is gifted. He has an arm that throws baseballs super fast. But with his dad gone Michael can’t prove his age to the baseball team and the team needs his pitching skills. In the book Heat the symbol is Yankee Stadium. This symbol represents the main characters future. But the theme of the book is “family can come from the most unexpected places.”
This book was a good read for me, but I also read book reviews to help me keep track on what I am reading. These book reviews just made a better understanding of what I was reading.
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.
Murphy, Jim. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic 1793. New York, New York: Clariton Book, 2003. Print.
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.
Dickerson, James L. Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Poised to Kill Again. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006. Print.
The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes. One of the most common forms of errors found in the medical field is the recycling of soiled equipment. The repeated use of dirty medical equipment is found commonly in the poor regions of the world where resources are limited and fundings are bound. This is an example of the errors the human race performs that lead to disaster.
This case is very recent and relevant to the Ebola epidemic effecting the world today. The facts of this case are:
Since Plagues and Peoples covers several subjects of knowledge, he helps the reader understand key concepts by fully explaining parasitism and its dependence on humans and animals. People in the field of history, which make up a majority of this books audience, would need more insight into epidemiology to grasp its key concepts. It would not be likely for a historian to be knowledgeable in a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in populations.
The general geographic region that has been most affected by the different strains of the Ebola virus is Central Africa, namely the cities of Zaire, Sudan, and Gabon. The first known occurrence of Ebola was found in a man by the name of Charles Monet, who had currently taken a trip...
The movie Warm Bodies is undoubtedly a movie that has its own interesting take. It is ideally a zombie - romantic movie whose script is based on a novel of the same title authored by Isaac Marion (2010). The main character leads are R; played by Nicholas Hoult, Julie; played by Teresa Palmer, Nora; played by Analeigh Tipton, and M; played by Rob Corddry. Warm Bodies is not particularly a comic movie, but is instead a carefully woven film that brings into perspective what a kind heart can achieve, and generally, the power of human beings over that which is thought of as evil.
I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. The way Barry presented the science behind the virus and the medicine of the time in a historical context made the book easier to read and made it more interesting. It was easier to understand and retain the actual scientific facts pertaining to the influenza virus because I was reading it in a relevant historical context and not just trying to memorize it like I would from a textbook. I personally enjoy reading about war and disaster because the content is often very interesting.
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)
The symptoms were blisters of the skins with puss and bleeding with high fever. The government was very aware and thought they had a vaccine but the micro-organism morphed into another pathogen that was airborn and the previous vaccine was no