The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a fascinating book that reviews various dangerous viral biological outbreaks occurring primarily between the 1970s and 1980s. The Hot Zone is not a fictional work, but rather a documentation of a series of dangerous viral outbreaks located primarily in Africa. It begins with reports of an outbreak of the rare and extremely deadly Marburg virus. The Frenchman Charles Monet was in Kenya in 1979, where he worked in a sugar factory. He decides to visit Kitum Cave with a friend and later contracts the Marburg virus. The Marburg virus behaves almost the same as the Ebola virus, its symptoms including fever, red spots, swelling, low blood pressure, internal bleeding, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache hemorrhages and shock. Charles Monet took a plane and then a taxi to Nairobi Hospital, where he lost consciousness and collapsed 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 various outbreaks of Marburg virus before moving on to several strains of Ebola. It highlights the extraordinary danger of handling viruses and describes in detail all the precautions taken by Major Nancy Jaax when working with viruses in the "hot zone" (areas of a laboratory contaminated by a virus) of the UNITED STATES. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Preston does a fantastic job describing the handling of each outbreak as well as the dangers of each virus and the significant threat they each pose to humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Anyone interested in the medical field, biology or taking/considering taking an honors degree in biology should read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, which goes into horrifying detail. dangerous viral agents in addition to their treatments and the extreme threat they pose. Preston does a great job describing viruses. When a new strain of Ebola is discovered, he details its shape, saying the viruses look like "snakes, mats, branching, forked things that looked 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 their effects. He claims that Monet's liver "had stopped functioning several days before his death... It was yellow and parts of it had liquefied... It was as if Monet had become a corpse before his death." The many details it provides to readers would be of particular interest to those who study or are interested in the study of biology or biological agents, as it provides much more detail on the actual impacts of these viruses than does currently used biology textbooks. After Preston gives 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 treat Marburg patients. Dr. Silverstein, who treated Dr. Musoke, told Preston that he was "trying to feed him and trying to bring his fever down when it was high...basically he was taking care of someone without a plan..