The Hot Zone
Now that you've read the first part of The Hot Zone, what is your impression of Ebola, the scientists, and the repercussions of an outbreak? As you continue to read, answer each of the following prompts at least once.
To reply, click on the # Comments link at the end of blog entry, type your response in the Leave A Comment box, and under Choose Your Identity choose the Name/URL option, and type only your first name in the space provided. In addition to each of your reponses, respond to at least two of your classmates in a thoughtful manner by Dec. 19.
Write a full response to each of the following prompts:
- What is your opinion of what you just read?
- Is there an issue that you agree with? Disagree with?
- What steps or techniques did the scientists use to complete their job?
- List five science-related vocabulary words and define them.
- Write a letter to one of the characters.
- Write a letter to the author.
- Which character would you like to be? Why?
- Summarize what you have just read. (Entire book or a section)
- Draw a picture of something you read. Be sure to include a caption and explain why the illustration is important to the book. (Optional hand-in assignment)
I hope this foray into the minds of scientists, military and civilian personnel, and the peculiar spread of a virus will cause you to stop and reflect.
Comments
My opinion is that Ebola is probably the worst way to die. I hate reading stories like this because I hate to hear about anyone suffering, but it's a good way to motivate people to start helping.
Ebola is a vey serious and scary virus, especially since there is no cure for it. The scientists are infecting monkeys with this airborne virus to try to find a cure for it and to see where it originated. They suspect it came from an organism living inside Kitum Cave. This book shows you how once one person becomes infected with a virus that can survive in the human race, it is very easy to transfer the virus to another person.
I agree and disagree with infecting the monkeys with Ebola. I disagree with this because I don't think it is right to infect a healthy animal with a virus that will kill them. I agree with it because I know that they are only doing this to try to find a cure for the virus and monkeys are very close to humans.
They infect a monkey with the virus. When the monkeys die, the scientists put some of the infected monkey cells into a flask and examine the cells very carefully to try to see what type of virus it is and what medecines they can possibly give them to see if it will kill the virus.
This book is a little boring at first but where i am at it is getting quite gruesome. It is realy weird because the more bloodier it gets the better it gets. If I could redo the book i would try to make it better. I hope that there is a second book because it is realy good.
Sincerely,
Matthew
Euthanasia, giving animals a deadly dose of sedative, is an issue that I don't know if I agree or disagree with. I hate seeing the monkeys in the lab suffering through their sickness and I know that it's the best way to contain the disease, but killing animals and even people this way seems immoral. People could say that they did it for good reasons, but I would never be able to euthanize or give permission to euthanize anything.
I like your book, The Hot Zone. Even though it is hard to understand sometimes, it is a really cool book. I like how you describe the horrors of Ebola virus and Marburg. The way you write makes me feel like I was there. This is a really good book.
pathology-the science or the study of the origin, nature, and course of diseases
lethal- of, pertaining to, or causing death; deadly; fatal
quarantine-a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease
biohazard-A biological agent, such as an infectious microorganism, or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans, especially in biological research or experimentation
virions-A complete viral particle, consisting of RNA or DNA surrounded by a protein shell and constituting the infective form of a virus
I would like to be Nancy Jaax. Her life is dangerous and exciting. She gets to travel and disect monkeys to learn more about Ebola and Marburg. She gets to wear a space suit at work and she gets to work with her husband. I think it is cool that she is the only woman that works with Level 4 hot agents at USAMRIID.
Dear Richard Preston,
This book is very greusome and terrifying. It is scary when you read something in the book and then you realize that this book is non-fiction. Everything they say in this book has really happened to these people. I feel sympathy for the people that had to go through this stuf. I think overall, this book is an okay book.
To find out what the monkeys were dying of, first the Tom Geisbert infected blood from a monkey with the disease. He looked at the blood, then he spun the flask of blood in a centrigufe machine. A small dot of dead or dying cells collected at the bottom. He put the dot in plastic resin, which would preserve it. Geisbert then put the dot into a machine, fitted the machine with a diamond knife, and sliced the dot of cells into pieces. The slices fell into water, and he fished them out with a miniscule grid. He carried the grid in a box to the electron microscope. He slid the small grid into place and examined the dead cells, and from there Geisbert was able to determine that this was an unknown virus.
Pathology- The study of origin, nature and course of diseases
biohazard- The health risk posed by possible release of a pathogen in the environment
filovirus- Thread virus
quarantine- strict isolation to prevent the spread of diseases
Dear Nancy Jaax,
You set a good example for younger girls and women. I think it's cool that you are one of the very few women that worked at USAMRIID at that time. Plus, you worked with Level 4 hot agents and you helped to disect and examine the dying monkeys. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did, and that is why you are my favorite character in this book.
Your book is gruesome and a little hard to follow. There are a lot of details that I was lost in. However, you explain Ebola and Marburg in enough detail to push the thought of how horrible this disease is into my head. If there hadn't been so much disgusting or seemingly pointless details, I wouldn't have understood the full extent of the sickness. If the flow of the book hadn't been so choppy (to me, at least) I would have liked it a lot.
Sorry to hear about the monkey house incident. You made a lot of hard decisions in there. I'm glad you pulled through it without getting sick. I hope you were able to find a better job.
Don't kill the healthy monkeys from Kitum Cave. Let them go. The memories will haunt you for your whl life.
Sincerly,
Andre'
I'd like to be Tom Geisbert, because he discovered a new disease and was able to name it. He has a pretty cool job and gets to look at all kinds of viruses. Looking through an electron microscope all day doesn't sound so bad.
I agree with your conflict about agreeing or disagreeing about the euthanizing of the monkeys. I like monkeys, and the healthy ones from Kitum Cave shouldn't have been killed.
A man named Dan Dalgard notices a strange sickness in the monkey house he works at. The monkeys in Room F suddenly stop eating, and, in a few days, drop dead. He thinks the virus is Simian Hermorrhagic Fever, but the monkeys don't have the usual simptoms. Their spleens, which should be soft, are one giant blood clot, and there is some internal bleeding. He contacts the army and sends them a sample of one of the monkeys' spleen and mucus, but the army is just as stunned as he is. The virus looks like Ebola Zaire, the deadliest kind of Ebola. America may be at a huge risk, and it's up to the Army to stop it.
I agree with you when you disagree with the testig of viruses on monkeys. But if they start using rats, then they are doing the same thing to thse rodents. Think about the rat lovers out there who would say to stop testing on rats and testing on monkeys. Then we would have the same conflict.
Sterilization: unequivocal, total destruction of all living organisms. Extremely difficult to achieve in practice, and almost impossible to verify afterward.
Replication: self-directed copying.
Host: organism that serves as a home to, and often as a food source for, a parasite, such as a virus.
Filovirus: a family of viruses that comprises only Ebola and Marburg. Also called thread virus.
EnviroChem: green liquid used in air-lock chemical showers. Effective virus killer.
Host:organisms that serve as a home to parasite
Hot Agent: Extreme lethal virus
Hot Suite: A groupof biosaftey level lab rooms
Replication:Self direct copying
USAMRIID: United States Army medicle research Institute of Infectious diseases
I would like to talk to you about what you saw on Mt. Elgon. What did it look like? What were you feel like? Nervous? How did you feel after you touched it? How are you feeling after you had that weird disease? Do you still feel bad? Are you ever going to try to look for it and destroy it
I agree with you. It's hard to keep up with what character the story is about because they change so quickly. I had to reread a lot of the book!
In your letter to the author, you said the book gets better as it gets bloodier. Why do you think that? Gore isn't something to enjoy.
In part three, they try to get rid of the virus by "nuking" the monkey house. They want to go in and kill all the monkey, even the ones that appear to be healthy because they might be in the incubation period. Newscasters are constantly coming to the monkey house in Reston to try to gather some information. During the process of euthanising the monkeys, one of them escapes from the cage and it took hours to catch him. After they finish cleaning the monkey house, they conclude that this virus was a new virus. They think that it only fatal to animals. It is hard to tell the difference between this new virus and Ebola-Zaire beacuse they are so closely related. They named it Ebola-Reston, because the monkey house is located in Reston, VA.
I disagree with you saying that scientist should wear gloves. In the book it says that before you go into a Level 4 room, you have to put on scrubs and gloves. Then the put on the space suit, and the space suit has gloves. The, before they start handling the mateirals, they put on more latex gloves.
I agree that they should not have killed the monkeys at Kitum Cave. The monkeys were perfectly healthy and they knew that. But I don't think they really wanted to kill the monkeys.
Replication- when an organism makes copies of itself.
Filovirus- family of viruses that only contain ebola and marburg.
Hot agent- a lethal virus that may be airborne.
Sentinel animal- an animal prone to getting sick, or showing symptoms of something potently dangerous to humans, that are put in areas where harmful substances may be. If the animals get sick, it is a warning for humans to get out.
What was the first feeling when you found out you had blood infected with marburg in your glove? Did you think you where going to die, or did you have hope? Did your childhood flash before your eyes? If that happened to me I would probably panic and do something stupid. I would feel as if my life was over. I really admire that you acted in a professional way. You where really calm for that situation.
What inspired you to write The Hot Zone? Did you write it to inform people about the dangers of the virus, or just as a good story? Either way The Hot Zone was still a very good book. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in viruses. I especially like the way you change the characters to give the reader a better feel for the story. If you had the choice would you wipe the filovirus of the face of the earth just because it is deadly yo man?