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

A Biosafety level is a set of containment precautions used by a laboratory to protect scientists from the diseases they are working with. Biosafety Level 4 agents are the most dangerous, as they are highly infectious, have a high fatality rate, and there are no known prophylactics, treatments, or cures. Ebola and Marburg are Biosafety Level 4 viruses; the term can also be used to describe the physical laboratory (“I’m in Biosafety Level 4 right now” (290)) and the set of laboratory precautions–including the use of a full “space suit” to protect scientific or medical staff from contact with the agent (69).

Ebola Virus can refer to six different species of filoviruses that cause hemorrhagic fever, four of which can cause illness in humans. The Hot Zone deals primarily with Ebola Zaire and Ebola Sudan, the two strains deadliest to humans. Ebola Zaire is now referred to by the scientific community as simply Ebola (species Zaire ebolavirus), while Ebola Sudan is called Sudan virus (species Sudan ebolavirus). The CDC also recognizes Taï Forest virus (species Taï Forest ebolavirus) and Bundibugyo virus (species Bundibugyo ebolavirus) as human-impacting Ebola viruses. Reston virus (species Reston ebolavirus), also dealt with in The Hot Zone, can be caught by humans and cause illness in nonhuman primates and pigs, but does not cause illness in people. Lastly, Bombali virus (species Bombali ebolavirus) was recently identified in bats, but it is unknown whether it causes illness in either animals or people.

A family of viruses that includes the six species of Ebola viruses as well as the Marburg virus. They are also called thread viruses. Both terms refer to their ropelike appearance under the microscope, in contrast to the spherical shape of most viruses.