Ebola Virus Chapter Summary

The book begins in the East African country, Kenya. The author illustrates the death of a French man due to a virus called Marburg. Preston explains the man’s symptoms in great detail, in order to show the reader how one single virus can be a predator with the potential to kill off a large population. Later, the author takes the reader on a journey through more terrifying breakouts over time and ultimately highlights on an outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus and the Ebola Zaire, which struck dozens of villages as the result of the use of dirty needles at a medical clinic. Preston later focusses on many scientists and military personnel who dedicate their lives researching hot agents while wearing space suits These people are desperate and hopeful in eventually …show more content…
The place where the monkeys are is marked as a “hot zone,” and a SWAT team enters the building, killing hundreds of monkeys, and collecting blood and tissue samples for further study. Although there are close calls while attempting to kill to monkeys, the team succeeds. The Ebola from the monkeys is revealed as Ebola Reston, which is deadly to monkeys but not humans. Towards the end of the book, Preston visits the Kitum Cave in Kenya that was visited by two victims of the Marburg virus before developing symptoms. It is revealed that Richard Preston decides to visit, not just to explore possible sources of the disease, but to stand in the spot where the story of the Hot Zone begins. The result of the book is a fast-paced scientific thriller that, while lacking the creational narrative of a fictional work, is all the more terrifying because it describes factual events. While Preston does not overstate the danger of Ebola and other viruses, he argues that the greater threat lies in emerging viruses like AIDS whose effect on the human race cannot yet be