Ebola
by Dr. William Close
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"Eloquent, gripping, harrowing."--Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone When a mysterious virus first exploded in Zaire in 1976, American physician William T. Close worked desperately to contain the outbreak. Haunted by this wrenching crisis, Dr. Close felt compelled to honor the memory of the courageous people he knew and lost. This is their story: a terrifying, completely authentic novel that begins with an invisible killer. It strikes without warning--a lethal disease with no name show more . . . and no cure. At a Catholic mission in Yambuku, a remote village sixty miles south of the Ebola River, local teacher Mabalo Lokela visits the clinic with a raging fever. Sister Lucie, a Flemish nun and nurse, gives him a shot of an antimalarial drug, wipes off the syringe, and awaits her next patient. Within days, Mabalo is dead. Soon, others are falling ill. Less than three weeks later, the virus claims Sister Lucie's life as well. Panic erupts, but as the villagers attempt to flee, all roads leading out of Yambuku are closed off, the dying forced back. And as the single radio connecting the mission to the outside world brings only bad news, the valiant nuns and medical personnel left behind have no choice but to pray, and wonder: Will they survive long enough for help to arrive? show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Ebola is a very frightening look at the Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1976. Ebola is a virulent form of haemorrhagic fever. There are three strains of Ebola with Zaïre ebolavirus (the strain featuring in this book) being the most potent. While this strain has an average mortality rate of around 83%, individual outbreaks have shown it can be much higher. The case-fatality rates for this strain were 88% in 1976 (this is the outbreak covered by Ebola), 100% in 1977, 59% in 1994, 81% in 1995, 73% in 1996, 80% in 2001-2002 and 90% in 2003. There have been more outbreaks of Zaïre ebolavirus than any other strain.
Ebola was an interesting, and frightening, look at the progress of this disease and the fear it can instil in those affected. It is show more written in novel form, making it easy to read and understand and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in medicine, science or communicable diseases. show less
Ebola was an interesting, and frightening, look at the progress of this disease and the fear it can instil in those affected. It is show more written in novel form, making it easy to read and understand and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in medicine, science or communicable diseases. show less
scary, that's all that needs to be said.
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Author Information
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1991
- People/Characters
- Sister Lucie; Mabalo Lakelo; Ebola
- Important places
- Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- First words
- Fly due east toward the coast of Africa, six degrees below the equator, altitude one thousand feet above the sea.
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Statistics
- Members
- 295
- Popularity
- 108,429
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- Czech, English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
