The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a fascinating book that analyzes various dangerous biological viral epidemics that occurred mainly between the 1970s and 1980s. The Hot Zone is not a fictional work, but rather is the documentation of a series of dangerous viral epidemics located primarily in Africa. It begins with information regarding an outbreak of the rare and extremely deadly Marburg virus. Frenchman Charles Monet is in Kenya in 1979, working in a sugar factory. He decides to visit Kitum Cave with a friend and later contracts the Marburg virus. The Marburg virus behaves almost identically to the Ebola virus, its symptoms include fever, red spots, swelling, low blood pressure, internal bleeding, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, hemorrhage and shock. Charles Monet takes a plane and then a taxi to Nairobi hospital, where he loses consciousness and collapses bleeding on the emergency room floor. He is treated by Dr. Shem Musoke but unfortunately infects Dr. Musoke before dying in the intensive care unit. Dr. Musoke's case is taken up by another doctor, Dr. Silverstein. Preston goes through several outbreaks of the Marburg virus before moving on to multiple strains of Ebola. It outlines the extraordinary danger that comes from manipulating viruses and describes in graphic detail all the precautions Major Nancy Jaax took when working with viruses in the "hot zone" (areas of a laboratory contaminated with a virus) of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Preston does a fantastic job describing the management of each epidemic, as well as the dangers of each virus and the significant threat each poses to humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Anyone interested in the medical field, biology, or taking/planning to take Honors Biology should read Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, which terrifyingly describes dangerous viral agents as well as their treatments and the extreme threat they pose. Preston does a great job describing viruses. When a new strain of Ebola is discovered, he describes its shape in detail, saying the viruses look like "snakes, braids, branched, forked things that look like the letter Y... a classic shape... a shepherd's crook." . He uses virologists as sources in his book, such as Karl Johnson, who helped discover Ebola. Preston not only talks about the shape and discovery of viruses but also talks about their effects. It states that Monet's liver “had stopped working several days before his death… It was yellow and some parts of it had liquefied… It was as if Monet had become a corpse before his death.” The great detail it provides readers would be especially interesting to those who study or are interested in studying biology or biological agents, as it provides much more detail about the real-world impacts of these viruses than currently used biology textbooks. After Preston provides a lot of information about a virus, he describes their treatments. In detailing Dr. Musoke's time with the Marburg virus, he describes how difficult it is to care for Marburg patients. Dr. Silverstein, who treated Dr. Musoke, told Preston that he "tried to give him nourishment and tried to bring down his fever when it was high... he was basically taking care of someone without a strategy." Preston is also committed to showing where treatments fail. He points out that "even in the best modern hospitals, where the patients are.