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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
On Reddit someone posted this as the scariest book they ever read. After reading how fast and how little it took to spread ebola, I have to agree with that Reddit user.
Pretty interesting read, especially after the recent resurgence of Ebola. Though this book's subtitle suggests it is about the origins of the Ebola virus, and it does cover a lot of the first cases and efforts to track the virus to its birthplace, they never have found where it originated. This book focuses on the history of the Ebola virus's interaction with humans, especially when it breaks out of confined regions of Africa that border rainforest, such as when the human patient zero came down with what was later determined to be Ebola and died in a Nairobi hospital.
The book also covers in depth an incident in a monkey research facility in Virginia in the 1980s where a strain of Ebola was killing monkeys with alarming rapidity. The US Army and CDC were called in to investigate and it was widely feared that the virus would make a species leap into humans and could explode into an epidemic if not contained.
This book is definitely not for the squeamish - it describes the effects of the Ebola virus on both monkeys and humans in vivid detail. It is a fascinating and horrifying read if you can stomach it.
The book also covers in depth an incident in a monkey research facility in Virginia in the 1980s where a strain of Ebola was killing monkeys with alarming rapidity. The US Army and CDC were called in to investigate and it was widely feared that the virus would make a species leap into humans and could explode into an epidemic if not contained.
This book is definitely not for the squeamish - it describes the effects of the Ebola virus on both monkeys and humans in vivid detail. It is a fascinating and horrifying read if you can stomach it.
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
While the Andromeda Strain was all well and good, Sophie suggested I move onto the real stuff. The Hot Zone is a book that covers the unfolding of the Ebola virus here in the US. It's first chapters show the discovery of the Ebola virus in Africa in some of the most harrowing descriptions of its effects on humans. From a head or backache to bleeding from every orifice in a matter of days: the stuff of nightmares. Well it would be if I was the type of person to have nightmares after horror stories or movies :D But a great read! Even when it comes to the bureacracy in DC between the army and the CDC and the handling of what could have been a major national if not global disaster to the very touching characterizations of the people involved (which was one of my gripes with the Andromeda Strain). Highly rec'd if you don't mind constant mentioning of gushing blood!
Frightening read that I’m surprised how much I enjoyed. Part 2 seemed to drag.
informative
tense
medium-paced
Read on my Nook. This was an interesting story about the Reston, VA ebola outbreak in the late 80s/early 90s. Overall a very interesting story... And it's told like a horror novel, except it's real. Highly recommend if you want to learn more about highly infectious foliviruses!
(1) This is definitely the scariest nonfiction book I have ever read. Ebola and Marsburg are horrific viruses. I really do wish the effects presented here were made up.
(2) I learned a lot about viruses in general (and the filovirus family in particular), about Africa, about the work of the CDC, and especially about how viruses are rated and handled. When the zombie uprising occurs, I'm going to check this book out of the library again so I can construct my own virus-safe facility. (As most scientists have concluded that the zombie plague will be caused by an as-yet-unkown virus, I am assuming that I'll want a virus safe stronghold, with the rest of the known world being a hot zone.)
(3) While the people are presented a little bit journalistically -- a little distant from me as reader -- I still did care about many of them. I guess you can't just add some quirky characteristics to real people to make them easier to recognize as soon as they step onto the page.
(4) The last chapter was my least favorite. Why do I so often dislike the way books end? I would say that for the first 3/4 of the book, I really didn't want to put it down. After that, the suspense felt a little forced.
(5) Yes, I will be looking for other books by this author. Learning new things is one of my favorite reasons to read.
(2) I learned a lot about viruses in general (and the filovirus family in particular), about Africa, about the work of the CDC, and especially about how viruses are rated and handled. When the zombie uprising occurs, I'm going to check this book out of the library again so I can construct my own virus-safe facility. (As most scientists have concluded that the zombie plague will be caused by an as-yet-unkown virus, I am assuming that I'll want a virus safe stronghold, with the rest of the known world being a hot zone.)
(3) While the people are presented a little bit journalistically -- a little distant from me as reader -- I still did care about many of them. I guess you can't just add some quirky characteristics to real people to make them easier to recognize as soon as they step onto the page.
(4) The last chapter was my least favorite. Why do I so often dislike the way books end? I would say that for the first 3/4 of the book, I really didn't want to put it down. After that, the suspense felt a little forced.
(5) Yes, I will be looking for other books by this author. Learning new things is one of my favorite reasons to read.
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
One of the most frightening books I've ever read. And yet, sometimes I think it would be oddly poetic for nature to destroy the human race just as we have destroyed so much of nature. Wow, that was dark. It is a reminder of the things we don't know and the consequences of our actions.