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Diseases And Viruses In The Hot Zone By Richard Preston

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We’ve had many global outbreaks in our world of diseases and viruses. The novel The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is about an outbreak of a vicious disease. It gives a terrifying, true narrative about an eruption of a deadly virus, Ebola, the great slate wiper, the disease that did horrific things you did not want to imagine (Preston 64). The vicious virus approached upon the people out of nowhere, when no one knew what it was or why it was happening. The government's response was very well reacted to the situation, they jumped right on the situation, contained the virus and tried to find a cure as soon as possible. In the novel, the outbreak was out of random, none of the doctors knew what the disease was at the beginning,but the doctors …show more content…

The disease was discovered when it was brought into a hospital from Monet, one of the people in the book. Monet went on a trip with a friend and they went to a cave on New Years Day. That’s where it all began and where he got his virus. He carried it with him back home and soon began to develop symptoms such as headaches, back pains, muscle soreness, etc. Soon it became intolerable and he was taken to the hospital to get himself looked at to see what was happening to him. Once the doctors saw how Monet looked after the symptoms, they helped him right away. “The doctors at the hospital examined Monet, and could not come up with any explanation for what happened to his eyes or his face or his mind.” (Preston 15. In this quote, it speaks of how the doctors saw Monet and tried to figure out a way to help him right away. So they tried all they could to help Monet get well. “...they gave him injections of antibiotics, but the antibiotics had no …show more content…

In the chapter “Project Ebola” (Preston 58), Nancy Jaax was training for veterinary pathology, study of diseased animals. She went to the USAMRIID, also known as the institute where they conduct research to make or find vaccines to fight against infectious diseases. There are multiple levels in the building; Level 0,2,3, and 4. The place was very secured and closed off to keep the diseases from leaking out of the most dangerous rooms. “The window was made of heavy glass, like that in an aquarium, and it looked directly in the Ebola suite, directly into Level 4.” (Preston 60). This quote is giving you an image of the Level 4 room, which was so contained that you could stand right by the window and look through without being infected. To be even more cautious and safe, they wore thick bulky suits with multiple layers that protected them when they entered the room. It was so thick that people panicked once they were in the suit. “From the shelf, she took up a sterile surgical scrub suit―green pants and a green shirt, the clothing that a surgeon wears in an operating room―and she dragged on the pants and tied the drawstring around at the waist, and snapped the shirt’s snaps...She found a box of latex rubber gloves and a plastic shaked full of baby powder. She shook the baby powder onto her hand and pulled on the gloves. Then she found a roll of sticky tape…” (Preston 70-71) After she found the roll

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One of the most common theme that had a great impact on the people was “the lack of knowledge”. As mentioned in the book, Scientists and researchers were highly educated and trained. They had experienced hot agents before, but then Preston reveals that their knowledge of the filovirus was incomplete, since they didn’t find a cure or treatment for it. Moreover, many scientists and researchers were suspicious about the filovirus and they didn’t know the source of the Marburg and Ebola virus (filovirus) or how did it start.

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Introduction In the book “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston (1995), Preston (1995) talks about Ebola, a killer disease that originally broke out in Central Africa. Preston (1995) talks about three main concerns that the public should have about Ebola. One concern is the biohazard safety levels, the second worry are the symptoms that people experience day to day and the third one is identifying the virus correctly. Biohazard Safety Level Biohazard Safety Levels are very important from the CDC protecting the world population from small diseases such as HIV; to the worst of the worst like Ebola.

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