The Hot Zone: Part II
The Monkey House
QUESTIONS
RESTON
1. Think about an office park in your area. Do you know what kind of
businesses are located there? If there was a monkey storage facility
there, who in your local government would know about it?
2. How many monkeys are imported into the United States each year?
For what purposes does this happen?
3. Which government agency(ies) are responsible for overseeing these
facilities? How long are monkeys quarantined before distribution?
4. Who is Dr. Dan Dalgard and what is his job? What kind of person is
he?
5. Is a big suburban area like Reston a good place for a facility like
this?
6. Where did the October 4, 1989 shipment come from and how big
was it? Describe the places they stopped on the way to Reston and
how they were stored.
7. What are the characteristics of the crab-eating macaque species of
monkey? Why are they described as competitors of humans in their natural environment?
8. Describe their lifestyle and habitat.
9. Describe their social structure. How do you think this should
affect the way their human handlers store and treat them?
10. What happened to Jerry that influenced him greatly?
11. What was the condition of the surviving males that concerned
Dalgard? What were his suspicions?
12. Why can’t you do an autopsy of a monkey in front of other
monkeys?
13. What did he find out during the autopsy?
14. Where did the next shipment of monkeys go?
15. What did Dalgard find when he went to work on Saturday,
November 11?
16. Why do scientists keep diaries of their lab notes?
17. What does the spleen do?
18. What was the condition of the spleens in these specimens
compared to a normal monkey spleen?
INTO LEVEL 3
19. Why did Dalgard decide to contact USAMRIID? Do you think
this poses a risk to his company?
20. Who is Peter Jahrling and what is his specialty? In his normal
life, what was his giveaway sign about the kind of work he did?
21. What irritated and concerned Peter about the samples Dan
sent him?
22. What characterizes the safety conditions in a Level 3 facility?
23. Think back to the Peter Cardinal case. How do you wrap a
dangerous sample for shipping?
24. How did they culture the virus? There were at least four
different samples, what were they?
25. What was the location of the mass deaths on November 16?
26. What was Peter’s tentative conclusion on 11/16? What was
Dalgard’s response?
27. “A freezer can be hot as hell.” What does the author mean in
this case?
EXPOSURE
28. Who is Thomas Geisbert and what does he do at USAMRIID?
What made his background different from the other scientists and
technicians?
29. Is he a loner or is he sociable, and how does this affect his
work? Why did Geisbert like doing work with hot viruses alone with
his microscope?
30. What’s the difference between an electron microscope and a
light microscope? What size particles can each see?
31. How did the cells Tom saw differ from normal cells?
32. Jahrling refers to the cell culture as “off the plastic”. What
does he mean by this?
33. What was his suspicion about the culture and how did he test
it?
34. What is Pseudomonas and how does it live? What is it’s
characteristic smell?
35. Why was it a mistake for Geisbert and Jahrling to smell the
flask?
36. The author switches from prepping for the EM to a description
of Tom’s upcoming hunting trip and then to a description of the
incubation period for the virus. Why does he employ this technique?
THANKSGIVING
37. Why did the Jaax family have a horrid Thanksgiving?
38. Why was Nancy estranged from her father?
39. How did Dan Dalgard spend his Thanksgiving?
40. What was his main worry?
MEDUSA
41. Describe the diamond knife. Why was the diamond knife
necessary for the work that Thomas Geisbert was doing?
42. What did he see in the EM images? Why did it upset him?
43. “The incredible thing about living systems is that no matter
how small the view, it is just as complicated as ever.” What does
the author mean by this?
44. How did Thomas Geisbert determine that the cells under his
microscope were a form of Ebola?
45. What were some of the possible modes of infection?
46. What are inclusion bodies?
47. What are bricks and why are they so dangerous?
48. In retrospect, what was the “pepper” that Tom had seen
under the light microscope
THE FIRST ANGEL
49. What convinced Geisbert that the substance was Marburg?
50. Compare the evidence to Marburg. Why was Jahrling
skeptical? What did they check to make sure?
51. Who is Colonel CJ Peters? How is he described?
52. How do you think someone like him could become a division
head?
53. What were some of the exotic foods CJ would eat while in the
field? How does this add or subtract from your estimation of him as
a scientist?
54. Why were Jahrling, Geisbert, and Peters so secretive about
the virus?
55. What is “a certain pucker factor”? What is his concern? What
is his first idea that he needs to eliminate? What follow-up tests
does CJ have done in order to reconfirm the test results?
56. What is the crisis that CJ is worried about? Do you think he’s
moving too fast or too slowly? Describe.
57. Neither Peter nor Tom mention the “sniffing incident” to CJ
Why not? Would you have mentioned it? Why or why not?
58. Peter thinks Marburg is not easy to catch. Dan thinks it could
be airborne. What evidence do you have to this point?
59. How did Peter and Tom resolve their concerns about having
breathed in the vapor?
60. Why would it be strange to “handle your own blood while
wearing a space suit?”
THE SECOND ANGEL
61. Why does Tom Geisbert go to work so early?
62. What did the evidence from monkey 053’s cells show?
63. How did Tom break the news to Jahrling?
64. Why did Jahrling hesitate to tell Dalgard that he had detected
an Ebola strain?
65. What were some precautions Jahrling requested of Dalgard?
66. What were the safety precautions Dalgard had already
implemented and then what were the new ones he had to
implement?
67. What went through Dalgard’s mind as he waited? Why hadn’t
any of the workers filed accident reports?
68. How could Jahrling test to see if the monkey virus reacted in
humans? What did it mean if the cells were glowing?
69. Why did it have to be so dark to be able to see the samples?
Explain how these dyes work.
70. Explain the results of the culture. What was the reaction?
CHAIN OF COMMAND
71. Why did Jahrling repeat the test?
72. Describe CJ’s reaction. What does it mean for a scientist to be
skeptical and how does it apply to this case?
73. How did Peter hand the results to CJ? Why did he do it this
way?
74. Who is CJ’s boss and who is the boss’s boss?
75. What did Col. David Huxsoll decide to do? Who did they get
involved as their lead researcher and why?
76. How would you answer Gen. Russell’s questions about
evidence for the virus being airborne? Summarize Col. Nancy Jaax’s
arguments. Did she miss anything?
77. How do your recommendations change based on whether the
virus is airborne or not?
78. What is a thread virus?
79. Why hadn’t they published the pictures? Why did the General
want it published? How does publishing advance science?
80. How did Jahrling rationalize not telling anyone about having
sniffed the solution?
81. Jahrling is a civilian but his bosses are military officers. Do
you think he violated any military rules or regulations by not
disclosing his exposure to Ebola?
82. Why is it important to know how the viruses spread?
83. What are three ways to eliminate a virus? Which are or are
not applicable at this point?
84. What are the options for biocontainment?
85. What is a species jumper?
86. What was Nancy’s recommendation of what to do next?
87. What are the pros and cons of considering Army involvement?
What would some of the different considerations and agencies be
after 9/11?
88. First Dalgard is relieved, then very concerned, to hear the
comparisons to Marburg. Explain.
89. “CJ agreed to wait before pulling the trigger.” Would you have
waited? Why?
90. Why was Dalgard reluctant to let the Army into his facility?
91. How did Nancy and Jerry spend that night? What is the
relevance of the quote from The Killer Angels?
GARBAGE BAGS
92. Why was Dalgard so afraid of Peters and of letting outsiders
into the monkey house?
93. What did Volt tell Dan? How did that affect his next set of
decisions?
94. What did Nancy notice on the cells from the sample the
Hazelton doctors had prepared?
95. What is “extreme amplification”?
96. They examine the dirty needle hypothesis. Name two other
infectious diseases spread through dirty needles?
97. “The Army might have to act decisively to put out this fire.”
What does this mean?
98. What option is CJ and Gene Johnson talking themselves into
at this point?
99. CJ and Gene don’t like each other very much. What is the
background of this tension?
100. Why did they have to sterilize the bags with bleach and what
were they used for?
101. How did Nancy get out of transporting the bags herself?
102. Why did they have to move fast with these specimens? Why
couldn’t they wait?
SPACE WALK
103. Why couldn’t Nancy bring her standard ID card into the decon
chamber?
104. How did the spacesuits and the confined space affect the way
the two people had to walk and interact with each other?
105. How did life in level 4 compare to a spacewalk?
106. Describe the steps to take prior to going into a Level 4 zone.
107. How does the author characterize the states of order and
disorder in life and death terms? Why are viruses an exception to
this rule?
108. What was Nancy Jaax looking for when she operated on the
monkey and why was she disappointed?
109. Why could she not confirm the presence of Ebola in these
specimens? List the evidence from the internal organs.
110. Why are all the beakers and tubes made out of plastic?
SHOOTOUT
111. Why didn’t Russell want the CDC to take over the operation?
112. Looking back on it, how could the Army and CDC have
handled the meeting differently?
113. Who was at the meeting? Who else would you have invited?
114. Why can’t Dr. Joe McCormick and C.J Peters stand each
other?
115. What had McCormick done to deserve recognition?
116. Describe the scene inside the hut in the Zande village.
117. What would have happened if the old lady that McCormick
was treating did have Ebola and had infected him with it? What in
fact had happened?
118. What were McCormick’s choices and do you agree with his
decision to stay?
119. How did this episode affect McCormick’s perspective on the
danger of Ebola?
120. What didn’t CJ tell anyone else at the meeting? Why?
121. How did the Army and CDC resolve the issue of case
management?
MISSION
122. Who was on the team that CJ put together?
123. What were the three priorities set up by the team? Do you
agree with the priorities set up by the team? Why or why not?
124. Why is Kitum Cave so important to the story? How was the
monkey house like Kitum Cave?
125. Hazelton is a private company. What are their concerns about
this case? Liability?Stock value? What about the contractors,
leases, and employees involved?
126. What does Nancy know at this point?
RECONNAISSANCE
127. What was the plan for December 1? What time were they
going to start? Why?
128. Who did Gene Johnson see in the parking lot?
129. How did the media find out?
130. Why do you think Bill Volt wasn’t concerned about being in
the monkey house? Do you think his opinion changed when Gene
Johnson and Sergeant Klages were afraid to touch things in his
office?
131. Why did they seal off Room H?
132. What did the first radio reports say that scared the workers?
133. If you were Dalgard, how would you have responded to the
concerns of the lab workers?
134. Why didn’t Dalgard invite McCormick when he invited CJ in?
135. Why weren’t they wearing respirators or suits in room H?
136. Why did Nancy avert her eyes?
137. What else did she notice about the monkeys that scared her?
138. What would you do if you were involved in the Reston
operation and you saw one of the monkeys escape its cage?
139. What questions would you ask if it were your mom and dad
going into that lab the next day?
140. What is the dramatic effect of the lengthy description of the
normal family life of the Jaax family?
141. What did Nancy do when she heard about her father? What
would you have done? Why?