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The Hot Zone
''The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story'' is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was Preston's 1992 '' New Yorker'' article "Crisis in the Hot Zone". The filoviruses—including Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Marburg virus, and Ravn virus—are Biosafety Level 4 agents, extremely dangerous to humans because they are very infectious, have a high fatality rate, and most have no known prophylactic measures, treatments, or cures. Along with describing the history of the devastation caused by two of these Central African diseases, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease, Preston described a 1989 incident in which a relative of Ebola virus, Reston virus, was discovered at a primate quarantine facility in Reston, Virginia, less than away from Washington, D.C. Synopsis The book is in four sections: # "The Shad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Preston
Richard Preston (born August 5, 1954) is a writer for ''The New Yorker'' and bestselling author who has written books about infectious disease, bioterrorism, redwoods and other subjects, as well as fiction. Biography Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated Wellesley High School in Massachusetts in 1972 and attended Pomona College in Claremont, California. He earned a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University in 1983. His 1992 ''New Yorker'' article "Crisis in the Hot Zone" was expanded into his breakout book, ''The Hot Zone'' (1994). It is classified as a "non-fiction thriller" about ebolaviruses. He learned of Ebola through such contacts as U.S. Army researchers Drs. C.J. Peters and Nancy Jaax. His fascination began during a visit to Africa where he was an eyewitness to epidemics. The book served as the (very loose) basis of the Hollywood movie '' Outbreak'' (1995) about military machinations surrounding a fictional "Motaba virus". Preston's novel '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Africa
Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Middle Africa is an analogous term used by the United Nations in its United Nations geoscheme for Africa, geoscheme for Africa and consists of the following countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The United Nations Office for Central Africa also includes Burundi and Rwanda in the region, which are considered part of East Africa in the geoscheme. These eleven countries are members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Six of those countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of the Congo) are also members of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Medical Research Institute Of Infectious Diseases
The United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID; ) is the United States Army's main institution and facility for defensive research into countermeasures against biological warfare. It is located on Fort Detrick, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., and is a subordinate lab of the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), headquartered on the same installation. USAMRIID is the only laboratory of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) equipped to study highly hazardous viruses at Biosafety Level 4 within positive pressure personnel suits. USAMRIID employs both military and civilian scientists as well as highly specialized support personnel, totaling around 800 people. In the 1950s and 1960s, USAMRIID and its predecessor unit pioneered unique, state-of-the-art biocontainment facilities which it continues to maintain and upgrade. Investigators at its facilities frequently collaborate with the Centers for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Jahrling
Peter B. Jahrling is chief of the Emerging Viral Pathogens Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Jahrling received his PhD in medical microbiology from Cornell Medical College. He joined the military as an officer at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), and remained employed as a civilian after his service. Since 2005, Jahrling has been the chief scientist of the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland, and chief of the Emerging Viral Pathogens Section. His research focuses on the development of animal models for viruses infecting humans, strategies for vaccination and treatment of serious viral pathogens, and characterization of newly discovered viruses. He oversees BSL-4 labs at Fort Detrick. ''The Hot Zone'' mentions Jahrling's early research in Ebola virus. He is portrayed in the first season of ''The Hot Zone'' television series by Topher Grace. Awards * 2003 Elected fellow of the Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centers For Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC's current nominee for director is Susan Monarez. She became acting director on January 23, 2025, but stepped down on March 24, 2025 when nominated for the director position. On May 14, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that lawyer Matthew Buzzelli is acting CDC director. However, the CDC web site does not state the acting director's name. The agency's main goal is the protection of public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and worldwide. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease control and prevention. It especially focuses its attention on infectious disease, Foodborne illness, food borne pathogens, environmental health, occupat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Elgon
Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda."Mount Elgon, Uganda" Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 11 January 2012 Although there is no verifiable evidence of its earliest volcanic activity, geologists estimate that Mount Elgon is at least 24 million years old, making it the oldest known extinct volcano in . The mountain's name originates from its Maasai name, “Ol Doinyo Ilgoon” (Breast Mountain). ...
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Kitum Cave
Kitum Cave is located in Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya. It is one of five named "elephant caves" of Mount Elgon where animals, including elephants, "mine" the rock for its sodium-rich salts. In the 1980s, two European visitors contracted Marburg virus disease there. Description Kitum Cave is a non-solutional cave developed in pyroclastic rocks, pyroclastic (volcanic) rocks (not, as some have presumed, a lava tube). It extends about into the side of Mount Elgon near the Kenyan border with Uganda. The walls are rich in salt, and animals such as elephants have gone deep into the cave for centuries in search of salt. The elephants use their tusks to break off pieces of the cave wall that they then chew and swallow, leaving the walls scratched and furrowed; their actions have likely enlarged the cave over time. Other animals including Cape bushbuck, bushbuck, African buffalo, buffalo and hyenas come to Kitum Cave to consume salt left by the elephants. There is a lot of bat guano ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's own. Many pseudonym holders use them because they wish to remain anonymous and maintain privacy, though this may be difficult to achieve as a result of legal issues. Scope Pseudonyms include stage names, user names, ring names, pen names, aliases, superhero or villain identities and code names, gamertags, and regnal names of emperors, popes, and other monarchs. In some cases, it may also include nicknames. Historically, they have sometimes taken the form of anagrams, Graecisms, and Latinisations. Pseudonyms should not be confused with new names that replace old ones and become the individual's full-time name. Pseudonyms are "part-time" names, used only in certain contexts: to provide a more clear-cut separation between one's privat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, preventable disease. It can be managed with treatment and become a manageable chronic health condition. While there is no cure or vaccine for HIV, Management of HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease, and if used before significant disease progression, can extend the life expectancy of someone living with HIV to a nearly standard level. An HIV-positive person on treatment can expect to live a normal life, and die with the virus, not of it. Effective #Treatment, treatment for HIV-positive people (people living with HIV) involves a life-long regimen of medicine to suppress the virus, making the viral load undetectable. Treatment is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made. An HIV-positive person who has an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a principal city of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden city movement, Garden City movement that emphasized planned, self-contained communities that intermingled green space, residential neighborhoods, and commercial development. The intent of Reston's founder, Robert E. Simon, was to build a town that would revolutionize Post-war, post–World War II concepts of land use and residential/corporate development in suburban America. History Colonial era In the early days of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America, the land that is present-day Reston was part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast grant by Charles II of England, King Charles II to Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Lord Thomas Fairfax that extended from the Potomac Rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
