The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

The Hot Zone has been called a “non-fiction thriller.” Thrillers are usually fast-paced fictional stories with many plot twists and cliff-hanger moments where the author stops the action just at the point of greatest suspense. Choose one of Preston’s cliff-hangers to analyze. Where does the action leave off? What hangs in the balance at this moment? Where does he next pick up the scene, and what is the impact of this technique on you as the reader?

Richard Preston uses the perspective and shares the inner thoughts of various individuals throughout The Hot Zone, including Nancy Jaax, Jerry Jaax, Dan Dalgard and, particularly in the last section, himself. Choose one of these key figures to analyze. What do this character’s background and experience bring to the narrative?

In creating this non-fiction thriller, Preston employs gruesome descriptions of the impact of filoviruses on human victims that employ body horror—horror that operates by showcasing disturbing and grotesque violations of human or animal bodies. Choose one such passage and then analyze: What is the impact of this description on the reader? What point does it emphasize?

The swift disease course and high case fatality rates of filoviruses lend themselves particularly well to Preston’s nonfiction thriller project, but make no mistake, the author is doing work: He uses graphic bodily horror descriptions, suspenseful cliff-hangers, vivid metaphors and similes, and foreshadowing and sudden plot twists to engage and alarm the readers. Select another human disease or ailment and complete a one-page description of it in your best imitation of his dramatic style.

The Hot Zone warns its readers about the dangers of filoviruses. What possible solutions and precautions does it point to? How would Preston have governments, organizations, and individuals manage these risks?

What is the state of Ebola outbreak management today? How does it differ from and remain similar to the 1976 outbreaks described in The Hot Zone? (Begin your research with the Ebola Virus Disease fact sheet from the World Health Organization.)

Several times in The Hot Zone, people including Nurse Mayinga (109-11), Tom Geisbert, and Peter Jahrling (183-86) elect to do something other than quarantine themselves after a possible filovirus exposure. Choose one of these figures to focus on. What knowledge and feelings drive their decision? What, if any, ethical obligations do infected and potentially infected persons owe to others? Support your answer with evidence from the text, but feel free to devote one paragraph to relating the question of filovirus quarantine to other viruses and quarantines if you so desire.

Throughout The Hot Zone, biomaterials are frequently removed and moved without regard for consent or law (see for example: 113, 126, 226). Since 2014, the Nagoya Protocol has required scientists collecting genetic materials to obtain the consent of the individuals, communities, and nations from which they come, and to share the benefits derived from them. What political and ethical considerations come into play in considering how these materials are handled? What values are in tension with each other in such questions?