The Hot Zone: Part 4

The final part of the book wasn't nearly as exciting as the others but I guess that what you can expect from any ending. I'm surprised that the author was able to go to Kitum Cave in the end, to explore just as Gene Johnson did with his team. I don't know if I would be brave enough to venture into the possible birth place of a deadly virus like Ebola with only a suit and a gas mask on. I wonder if the picture on the inside cover of the book is of the author himself. I'm guessing it must be. It was interesting to learn the history of Mount Elgon and Kitum Cave. It's incredible to think that generations of elephants were able to carve out the gigantic hole out the rock that is now the center of an entire ecosystem, from the bats and bugs, to the current family of elephants (or whats left of them). I think that the author's theory about the spiders being the natural host of Ebola very interesting but it's just as likely to be spiders as any other organism. I'm disappointed that we still don't  know the host. Little bit of a scare when the author smacked his head on the rock in the cave. Though he is protected, with the bump on his head, he could have been exposed. But if he came down with Ebola, we wouldn't be reading the book, would we? The idea at the end, about how the Earth is developing deadly viruses to eradicate humans like we are a parasite to the Earth is very intriguing. Maybe it's true. By destroying the Earth's natural environment, humans are exposing themselves to the Earth's immune system, via deadly viruses. Perhaps there should be a limit to the exploration and extortion of the environment, for our own sake.