The Hot Zone: The Ebola Virus

1084 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of ebola essay

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 of 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. He enjoyed the outdoors, so for the New Year’s he planned a camping trip with one of his women friends. They drove to Mount Elgon and spent the night in a large cave called Kitum Cave. After his trip to Mount Elgon, he felt completely normal and was able to return to his job. Then seven days later, Monet had massive headaches that would not seem to go away. These headaches caused back aches and aspirin failed to work. Little did Charles Monet know that these were the first symptoms of the deadly virus within him. Three days after the headaches, the fevers came along with nausea and vomiting. Charles Monet’s personality began to transform and he became a completely different but frightening person. Doctor’s sent him to a large hospital in Nairobi to treat his worsening sickness. He travelled alone and throughout the flight, was vomiting blood mixed with a black liquid. After his long flight, he waited in the waiting room at Nairobi hospital, barely being able to talk to anyone. Finally Charles Monet lost all control of his body and he began vomiting large amounts of blood along with intestinal lining. He became a human virus bomb.
A doctor, Dr. Musoke, and nurses immediately wheeled him into a room and began tr...

... middle of paper ...

... find small traces of the virus, and predicted that at one point in time would make an escape to the human population.
At the end of the book, the author makes his own trip to Kitum Cave. He describes his fear but excitement about travelling into the cave. He brought space suits with him, to protect him from the virus hidden in the cave. He gave himself an hour inside the cave, so that he couldn’t completely expose himself to the virus. Preston describes this cave as larger than a football field in all directions. It was hard for him knowing that a hot agent was in the cave. He also took some tests for science research while in the cave.
The Hot Zone described the Ebola Virus and the journey it took to learn about it in a very interesting way. It taught you more about viruses, and how people can dedicate their lives to research about these deadly viruses.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Hot Zone

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Hot Zone

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nun: The Nun's name was unknown but she had the very first recorded case of Ebola Zaire which is the most dangerous of the three strains. Summary: This is a true story. On New Year's Day 1980 a man named Charles Monet went on a trip with a girl friend of his up to Mnt.

    Read More

  • A Brief History of Yellow Fever

    2246 Words  | 5 Pages

    You woke up a week ago feeling odd. You were not sure what was wrong, but your body was full of aches, you felt hot to the touch, and you kept vomiting. Your mother told you to lay down and rest, hoping it was just a cold. After a few days, you began to feel better, well enough that you wanted to return to the river to watch the trade ships come in. Now, unfortunately, your symptoms have come back with a vengeance – your fever is back along with intense abdominal pain, your mouth is bleeding without being wounded, and every time you vomit, it appears black in color. Also, when you look in the mirror, your skin has changed from the sun-kissed color you have always been to a dull yellow hue. The doctor comes in to examine you; he makes many “tsk tsk” noises and hurries out of the room with a cloth over his face. The doctor mumbles to your mother that he believes you have Yellow Jack and there is nothing more he can do, you are going to die. Your mother weeps uncontrollably yet you cannot react because another horrendous pain in your head has doubled you over. Soon, as you stop shaking and begin to relax, the sounds of the doctor and your mother become white noise and your surroundings begin to dull until you prove the doctor right; another person fell victim to the infectious Yellow Fever virus.

    Read More

  • Errors In The Hot Zone

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Hot Zone by Richard Preston In October of 1989, Macaque monkeys, housed at the Reston Primate. Quarantine Unit in Reston, Virginia, began dying from a mysterious disease at an alarming rate of the. The monkeys, imported from the Philippines, were to be sold as laboratory animals. Twenty-nine of a shipment of one hundred died within a month.

    Read More

  • Exploring Ebola: A Review of 'The Hot Zone'

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Historical and Cultural Aspects in The Plague

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Web. The Web. 24 Mar. 2011. The. http://liboc.tctc.edu:2058/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420001374&v=2.1&u=tricotec_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w> The "Plague".

    Read More

  • Brief Summary Of The Hot Zone

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone is about the Reston virus, one of the five strands of Ebola, and its outbreak in Virginia in 1989, which startled the eastern United States. The story begins with a hot zone of the Ebola virus, Kitum Cave, in order to provide background information towards the virus and its hunger to take hold of a host. Over the course of the story Preston depicts the viral effects, emphasizes the passion of the scientist, and conveys the bravery in an almost disastrous situation.

    Read More

  • The Hot Zone Summary

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston, did a phenomenal job of describing the real life events that dealt with the multiple types of Ebola viruses. The author begins by describing true events that took place in Africa. The outbreaks Preston uses involve Marburg, Ebola Sudan, and Ebola Zaire, which are all filoviruses or sister viruses. These events all led up to an outbreak that happened in Reston, VA near Washington, D.C. In each one of the events, the author describes the affect that the viruses had on society and how the outbreaks were controlled. At times it was hard to believe that this book was nonfiction and not fiction. After reading this book, I don’t think I will be making a trip to Africa anytime soon!

    Read More

  • The Ebola Virus: History, Occurrences, and Effects

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Valley Forge Analysis

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    They needed healthy men, and I am somewhat healthy, so I just had to do it. I had to talk to others to see what is happening in their point of view, and I also had to see their opinion about these things. I figured that I needed to talk to a man named Dr. Waldo. Since he was a doctor, I asked him what was happening, what he saw. The look on his face was unbearable to stand, anyone who looked at him would be terrified at what he was about to say. He told me that it was a terrifying experience, and that 1,800 to 2,500 men were dying in December-June, he also said that there were many diseases such as smallpox ( when Dr. Waldo was experimenting, I was one of them to be experimented on, and now I’m immune to it), dysentery, typhoid, and pneumonia.(Busch, 147) By then, even I was shaking, I knew that it would be hard, but it was a risk that I was willing to

    Read More

  • The Ebola Virus

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Ebola virus was discovered in 1976. It has four strains, each from a different geographic area, but all give their victims the same painful, often lethal symptoms.

    Read More

  • The Deadly Ebola Virus

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is over in a matter of days. The victim staggers, disoriented and exhausted, and collapses in a fever. His eyes turn bright red, and he starts vomiting blood. Within a matter of hours, he "crashes" and "bleeds out" surcumming to agonizing death with blood seeping from his eyes, ears and other orifices. At autopsy, pathologists discover, aghast, that the patients internal organs have disintegrated into an indistinguishable mass of bloodied tissue. The killer: A "hot" virus, a highly contagious and deadly microbe that has never been seen before, and has no known cure. (Bib5, CQ Researcher, 495)

    Read More

  • Ebola Outbreak Of West Africa

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the current major concerns in the world is the outbreak of Ebola. Ebola is an infectious disease that comes from the Ebola virus and 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. Ebola started its first outbreak in West Africa.

    Read More

  • Cave Exploration

    2815 Words  | 6 Pages

    Our newly acquired fifth member was the last in and got wedged in the opening so tightly we thought we would never be able to pull him loose. Finally, our persistent tugging prevailed, and Scott came loose like a cork from a bottle. We quickly set about probing the cave and didn’t give that incident another thought, since we had just three precious hours in which to achieve our goal of exploration.

    Read More

More about The Hot Zone: The Ebola Virus

Open Document