The Hot Zone - Day Six (Part 3)

For those who have been devouring the book, you may get started on Part 3's questions below!  Remember that you must take notes as you read to answer these questions. You will have in-class time during SATs to read, answer, and discuss the book with your classmates.


Insertion
Why didn’t the army officials just let the virus kill off all the monkeys?
Compare the expedition to Kitum Cave (made by Gene Johnson) to the Reston operation. Were the hazards different? How did the goals of the mission contrast?
What are the similarities/differences between Kitum Cave and the Reston Monkey House as habitats for living organisms?

A Man Down
Compare Frantig’s symptoms with Monet, Musoke, and Peter Cardinal. Given Dalgard’s fears and what you know by now, what would you have said to Frantig?
Why is the Slammer a safer place to keep an Ebola patient than a community hospital?
If it’s hot inside and cold outside, what happens if you open a window? What are the dangerous consequences associated with this possibility?

91 Tangos
Jahrling is convinced that the virus us airborne and easily spread. McCormick thinks that it is not easily spread. Given Gene Johnson’s expertise, how would you evaluate the risk at this point?
Why does the coughing and sneezing worry Jerry? What comparison does the author make in this case and why?

Inside
How did they maintain radio contact with the outside? Why this method?
In debriefing this very long day, a) make a timeline of events (use the chapter subheadings if that helps); b) write four recommendations to CJ about things that worked and things that didn’t

A Bad Day
What is the rapid Elisa test? (Do the HHMI Virtual Immunology lab which is available on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute site, http://www.hhmi.org  - http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/immunology-virtual-lab )
Compare Williams’ and Jaax’s story. Who do you believe and why?
“This environment favors the monkey over us.” List evidence to support or refute this statement.

Decon
Why is it better to dispose of the monkeys the way they did instead of just burying them? What improvements would you suggest?
Compare and contrast this virus and Ebola Zaire?
What disease did Milton Frantig actually have?
How did the CDC trace the origin of this collection of monkeys? What are their remaining unknowns?
“Sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart.” How does this quote apply here?
“You can never know when life is exterminated.” Research the domain of extremophiles, organisms that live in very harsh conditions. We know now that these are more common than previously thought. What are the implications of a toxic extremophile that is infected with a lethal virus?

The Most Dangerous Strain
How and where does a virus hide?
How did Ebola travel throughout the building?
How did the symptoms of Ebola Reston compare to Zaire? What was the likely method of transmission? In 3 of the 4 cases?
“Imagine a virus with the infectiousness of the flu and the mortality rate of the black plague.” What could we do to protect ourselves against this?
What causes Jaax to comment about the high level of sophistication of the virus? What would be the “most dangerous strain” of Ebola?
To whom does the CDC report? To whom does an animal importer like Hazelton report?
What steps did the CDC take to prevent another outbreak?
Given the similarities between Zaire and Reston, what is Jahrling’s ongoing concern?
What is the likely index case for Reston? What are some other possibilities for the link between the African and Asian strains? Why can we rule out convergence in this case?

Comments

Anonymous said…
This part of the book was pretty good. I liked this more than part 4
--Mason

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