The Hot Zone

by Richard Preston

Epidemiologists have since discovered that the northwestern shore of Lake Victoria was one of the initial epicenters of AIDS. It is generally believed that AIDS came originally from African primates, from monkeys and apes, and

A Level 4 hot agent is a lethal virus for which there is no vaccine and no cure.

Ebola virus is named for the Ebola River, which is the headstream of the Mongala River, a tributary of the Congo, or Zaire, River.

the hottest type of Ebola virus—occurred in September 1976, when it erupted simultaneously in fifty-five villages near the headwaters of the Ebola River.

Viruses fall apart under ultraviolet light, which smashes their genetic material and makes them unable to replicate.

A virus does not “want” to kill its host. That is not in the best interest of the virus, because then the virus may also die, unless it can jump fast enough out of the dying host into a new host.