Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Part Two: "The Monkey House"

Part Two

In this chapter we learn that the monkey house is located in Reston Virginia, and was founded in 1989. It is Officially known as the “Reston Primate Quarantine Unit” which is owned by Hazelton research products, which is A company that coordinates the import and sale of laboratory animals. On October 4, the facility receives 100 wild monkeys from the Philippines. Two of the monkeys are dead upon arrival. The remaining animals are places in 12 holding rooms.
            About 4 weeks after the shipment, 29 monkeys are found dead in room F of the facility. Bill Volt the operator/man in charge of the Reston facility contacted Dan Dalgard who is a veterinarian. When Dalgard arrives he identifies two sick monkeys in room F.
He notices 2 Monkeys have droopy eyelids, both have a fever. Those two monkeys end up dying that night, and as a result he ends up performing a dissection on one of the monkeys and finds enlarged spleens, and blood in their intestines. He thinks it might be (SHF) Simian Hemorrhagic Fever, but he is not sure. So Dalgard sends samples the money’s spleen and some throat mucous to USAMirrad a military facility at Fort-Detrick.
Dr. Peter Jahrling a virologist at USAMirrad specializes in monkey viruses. He examines the samples sent by Dalgard, and he ends up thinking that the reason for death was from (SHF), as Dalgard hypothesized. Dalgard euthanizes remaining monkeys in room F to prevent further spread of the disease, but ends up finding out from a dissection from one of the euthanized monkeys that it was completely healthy. As a result based off of his guilt for killing healthy monkeys he then stores their bodies in the freezer of the Reston facility.
            Back at the USAMirrad facility Tom Geisbert an intern there for Dr. Peter Jahrling also examines the samples sent from D. Dalgard, in a flask from the Reston Monkey, Cells and he observes that the cells appear sick. Peter Jahrling believes the flask is contaminated with bacteria. Both Tom Geisbert and Dr. peter Jahrling sniff the contents of the flask. Jahrling still believes (SHF) is the cause for the monkey’s sickness.
Geisbert tries to confirm Jahrling’s diagnosis using an electron microscope and a diamond knife cutter.  He observes a rope like virus crawling within the cells. He now believes the virus could be Marburg, and if his findings are correct he and Dr. Jahrling
 may have sniffed up a potentially hot agent. He takes photographic evidence and compares it to textbook images of Marburg virus with the assistance of Dr. Jahrling.
Jahrling decides to confirm virus by testing Reston Monkey cells with blood samples from humans who were infected with Ebola or Marburg. Geisbert is then sent to the Reston facility to find prove that the virus in still active in the dead monkeys. He collects pieces of a monkey’s liver the same one used for the initial testing’s. He then slices the pieces open with a diamond knife cuter, and takes photographs. The Photographs come back positive for continued growth in the monkey tissue, which is an alarming result. At USAMirrad Dr. Jahrling is useing blood serum from individuals what were infected with a filo-virus;
1) Shem Musoke- Marburg virus
2) Mayinga N. –Ebola Zaire
3) Boniface- Ebola Sudan
            Dr. Jahrling combines the monkey cells with blood serum from each individual. The mixed blood sample of cells will glow under UV light if both identical viruses are present in the sample of cells which is indicative of a positive result for one of the 3 strains. The results of the blood serum test are scary and concerning because, the experimental results show that Ebola Zaire is to blame for the numerous monkey deaths.
            From here high-ranking officials of USAMirrad are called forth, and a meeting is held to discuss the findings. A huge concern about this virus is that it may have the ability to travel through the air, which was discovered by Gene Johnson’s Ebola Experiment.
A Bio-containment is called for, which consists of two different operations; 1) Let virus run it’s course 2) Euthanize all moneys in the Reston facility. Both of which require major field operations with Swat personnel trained in biohazard work. Contact with official channels like the C.D.C is made. Because of the recent discovery all operations at the Reston facility are suspended except for feeding, cleaning, and observation, and operations of how to resolve the situation are being calibrated upon.


Part Two Response
           
            This book was super fascinating and thrilling to read. The book is all the more interesting when you’re taking a microbiology class and you know how viruses work, what laboratorial techniques were performed, you understand the terminology be used. You also have these “ohh crap” moments when reading because, you know something bad is going to happen and yet you continue to want to know more. The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the Monkey house section. I enjoyed this section the most because this is where the initial investigation and uncovering for the unknown deaths of the Reston monkeys occurs. I also like this section the most because as the reader you could really feel the nervousness, and anticipation that the investigators were going through. Overall it was just one of those chapters that was continuously drawing you in, because you felt as though you were a part of the investigation.

No comments:

Post a Comment