The Hot Zone by Richard Preston The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
Rizwan Buttar
Chief Innovation Officer @ Pharma Trax | Patient Safety, Drug Surveillance
ABOUT BOOK
The Hot Zone offers an intense, often terrifying account of the real-life events surrounding one of the world’s most deadly diseases, Ebola. The book explains not only how the virus spreads, but where it came from and how it may continue to play a role in the future.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Richard Preston is an American author and journalist best known for his non-fiction writing, including titles such as First Light, The Cobra Event and The Demon in the Freezer.
Discover how the deadly Ebola virus has set modern society on edge.
The threat of Ebola is serious and real. Whenever there is an outbreak of this viral disease, the international alarms go up: borders are shut, travelers are scrutinized, isolation wards are readied.
What is it that makes this virus so terrifying? Ebola combines two deadly characteristics, in that it spreads easily and quickly, and kills a large proportion of those it infects.
1) Why you should never fiddle with a test tube if you don’t know what’s inside
2) How Ebola can live on even when its host has already died
3) Why sitting in a cramped airplane cabin makes you a sitting duck for a virus?
From early outbreaks to recent research to stem its spread. Yet while concerns of a pandemic shouldn’t be discounted, our ability to isolate Ebola and keep it from doing its worst has improved the more we have learned about the virus itself.
KEY POINTS
1) Discover how the deadly Ebola virus has set modern society on edge.
2) The Ebola virus belongs to a family of viruses. Each act differently, depending on its form.
3) Ebola is deadly, quickly destroying the body by liquefying organs and causing much blood loss.
4) The Ebola virus is so contagious that it can be spread through just a small drop of infected blood.
5) Working with Ebola can leave you with mental scars, even if you don’t contract the disease.
6) The curious deaths of tourists who visited an African cave led researchers to Ebola’s possible source.
7) Sloppy medical practices help spread viral infections. Airplanes and modern roads do too.
8) Basic foolishness and negligence are often responsible for spreading the Ebola virus.
9) More advanced disinfection technologies and better biohazard suits have helped stem Ebola.
10) Whether from Ebola or another virus, the threat of a pandemic remains.
Book Summary
The Ebola virus is among the most aggressive and dangerous diseases of our time. While we have so far been both resourceful and lucky in preventing a full-blown pandemic, inevitable blunders and the nature of the virus mean that an Ebola catastrophe on a global scale can never be fully ruled out.