The Hot Zone

by Richard Preston

All four men eventually tested positive for Ebola Reston virus. They had all been infected with the agent.

When it became apparent to the Army researchers that three of the four men who became infected had not cut themselves, just about everyone at USAMRIID concluded that Ebola can spread through the air.

Medical doctors who work in East Africa believe that 90 percent of the prostitutes working along the main roads carry the AIDS virus.

No one knows for sure, but local doctors think that as many as 30 percent of all men and women of childbearing age who live in the vicinity of Mount Elgon are infected with HIV.

We stopped and bought roasted ears of corn from a woman standing by the side of the road with a charcoal brazier. The corn was hot, dry, scorched, and delicious, and it cost five cents. It was called a mealy.

The Cape buffalo have killed more human beings in Africa than any other animal. Except hippo. Those swine have killed more.”

The map had been drawn by an Englishman named Ian Redmond, an expert on elephants who once lived inside Kitum Cave for three months, camping beside a rock near the entrance while he observed the elephants coming and going at night.

Most viruses do not last long outside a host. The AIDS virus survives for only a few minutes when exposed to air.

Hiccups are a classic sign of Ebola virus disease.