Part Three: "Smashdown"

Part Three

Reston Virus

It is finally time to come into the hot zone and see what is exactly such a commotion. Is this the strain of Ebola that finally breaks out in the United States and causes an epidemic or is this just a big miscommunication? As the monkeys keep dying left and right it is time to get to the bottom of things. Monkey that are known to have a virus are to be brought back to Fort Detrick for testing to correctly identify if they have Ebola. Not only are monkeys dropping like flies but it now appeared that the humans that were in the building are getting sick as well. The monkey house is turned over to the USAMRIID and its time to figure out what exactly is causing this disturbance. After hours of euthanizing monkeys the entire group is exhausted, but it seems that nobody wants to give up on what they started. After a soldier losses air pressure in her space suit due to a malfunction, there is a panic as to whether or not she will be affected by the virus. It seems however, that she was able to fix her suit and get out of the hot zone in time. Upon further inspection it is discovered that she had a hole in her suit. Just as things seem they cannot get any worse it just so happens that a monkey escaped its cage. After multiple tries of using a net to catch the escaped monkey the animal is left free overnight in the room. While these events were occurring in the hot zone back in the laboratory Peter Jahrling was working on a way to isolate and determine how this virus was spreading. Still worried after sniffing the contaminated flask Jahrling continually tests samples of his blood as well as Geisbert in order to see if they glow under ultraviolet light. Luckily none of their blood samples tested positive under the light, yet. They soon realize that they are reaching the end of the incubation period and would soon know if they are indeed infected or not. While the Nancy Jaax was handling the dilemma of keeping the outbreak secret from the rest of the world she was also facing another moral dilemma. She found out that her dad was very ill and was going to die relatively soon. She now had to decide between continuing her work and helping keep this outbreak contained within the monkey house, or visit with her father for his last days alive. She chooses she rather work on this important case and her father dies while she is at work. The team however, was able to euthanize the remainder of the monkeys in the house. The operation was completed and the decontamination team came in with formaldehyde gas and seemingly killed the last traces of the virus. The few people that came into contact with the virus such as Jahrling, Geisbert, and the solider were found to have no symptoms of the virus, as well as all the other human workers. After about a month later there was another outbreak of the virus in another monkey house. Instead of causing the same panic as last time, this time the USAMRIID isolated the house and checked to see how the virus progressed. The virus spread through the facility and killed the monkeys, but as in the previous case there were no causalities for humans. Even though there were no causalities the USAMRIID saw that four men Jarvis Purdy, who had a heart attack, Miltion Frantig, who had become sick and threw up on the lawn, John Coleus, who had cut his thumb and a unnamed fourth man all tested positive for Ebola Reston virus. The virus multiplied in their cells however, it never made them sick. The virus eventually left their systems and they were part of the few people that had actually survived the Ebola virus. After noticing that three out of the four men affect by the virus had not cut themselves, the USAMRIID realized that Ebola can indeed spread through the air.

Part Three Response

Reading this section I felt like Nancy Jaax working with Ebola, I just could not stop until I finished. What made this section interesting was the sense of mystery and suspense throughout. Would Jahrling and Geisbert get Ebola? Would the escaped monkey attack the workers? How would Nancy react to finding out her dad is very ill? All these questions plus many more kept me planted in my seat hoping that everything would be resolved. I felt as if I went through every emotion reading this part ranging from anger to joy and relief. I feel as though the low point of the book came when Nancy said that she rather keep working rather than visit her dying father. I understand where she is coming from wanting to help resolve the issue in the monkey how but family comes first to me. Throughout the book it seemed as though she put work in front of her family, even going against her husband’s wishes to not work with Ebola. While she loved her family dearly she loved her work even more. I respect her for that, though if I were in her shoes I think I would have made a different choice. After figuring out that the virus only affected monkeys and not human helped calm me down. Knowing that Jahrling and Geisbert were not going to die after worrying for weeks if they were infected or not put a smile on my face. That smile quickly disappeared though after it was revealed that Ebola could spread through the air. While we might be safe now we never know when another strain can cause a pandemic and worldwide fear.