The Ebola Virus

Ryan Rodney

Jan Decker

March 24, 2005

The Hot Zone

Synopsis:

Discussion: The Ebola Virus is an extremely deadly virus that can kill its hosts with in a few weeks. The infected starts by having dizziness and headaches, then proceeds to give fatigue, sweating, and red eyes caused by bleeding of the veins. Internally all of the organs begin to swell and bleed profusely. There is extreme clotting in the heart, liver, and kidneys. Internal bleeding takes over and eventually shuts down the entire bodily systems that are essential to life. Bleeding also occurs through the eyes, mouth, anus, penis, and vagina (any natural openings). Another problem with the Ebola virus is that most doctors will try giving antibiotics to the patients to fight presumed Malaria, but any punctures of the skin result in bleeding that cannot be stopped because the clotting properties of the blood are useless at this time. Even if the host is able to survive the attack from Ebola, severe brain damage occurs from clotting of blood in the cerebral. The clotting cuts off oxygen to the brain killing the cells. If you want to look for a plus in the brain clotting, then you should know that the deprivation of oxygen shuts off a lot of the nerves to the body, thus relieving the infected person of most pain after being infected for about a week. The death rate of persons infected with the Ebola virus is about 9 out of 10. This deadly virus is transmitted through bodily fluid contact, which includes any wastes, blood, semen, or even saliva. The Ebola Virus is a deadly virus that should not be taken lightly.

Written by Richard Preston, The Hot Zone, Published by Anchor Books, ©1989.