The Hot Zone Essay

Many new viruses are emerging from the rainforest every year. The deadly viruses include the Ebola, Marburg, and AIDS viruses. They are some of the most destructive and lethal viruses that human kind has ever seen. They seem to affect most of the body and it?s organs with some rather gruesome symptoms. Although most die ending their suffering, some survive to relay the story of their pain. The Marburg virus described in “The Hot Zone” , by Richard Preston, exemplifies these new gruesome viruses well. A person is infected with the virus through sexual contact or contact with bodily fluid(29,39). After infection, the symptoms begin within seven days(14). The symptoms begin with a headache. This headache worsens throughout the day spreading

“His eyes are the color of rubies, and his face is an expressionless mass of bruises. The red spots, which a few days before had started out as starlike speckles, have expanded and now merge into huge, spontaneous purple shadows: his whole head is turning black-and-blue. The muscles of his face droop. The connective tissue in his face is dissolving, and his face appears to hang from the underlying bone, as if the face is detaching itself from the skull.”(17-18) This passage describes Monet during the third stage of the virus. At this point the victim begins to vomit uncontrollably. This black spotted, red vomit is known as “vomito negro”, or the “black vomit”. This vomit is loaded with the virus(18). At this point “extreme amplification”(18) is starting to take place. Extreme amplification is the saturation of the body with virus particles. At this point it is said that there may be over a hundred million particles of the virus in one drop of the victims blood. Black vomit is the first sign of extreme amplification(18). Blood clot begin to occur throughout the body at the point. The intestines begin to die for lack of blood. Depersonalization starts to take place. This is the wiping away of the victim?s personality by brain damage. Spots on the brain are

the human virus bomb explodes.”(23) At this stage the host is said to “crash and bled out”(23). The victim begins to feel weak and their spine goes limp. At this point the victim goes into shock.(23) Massive quantities of blood are expelled from the mouth and anus. The blood is mixed with the broken down lining of the intestines.(24) The victim then dies. This virus is one of the weaker in the family of filoviruses. (38) Marburg only kills a quarter of those infected. (36) Many live though this extreme torture. “during the survivors? recovery period, the skin peeled off their faces, hands, feet, and genitals. Some men suffered from blown up, inflamed, semirotten testicles.” (page 38) All victims suffered damage to virtually all tissue in the body and experienced hair loss. The virus also remains in the fluid of the eyes for months. (38-39) Although the victim survives they are left with some physical reminders of this deadly