lil flagamuffin Richard Preston, The Hot Zone
I looked over the most disturbing descriptions of the middle and end stages of infection by a Marburg or Ebola virus. Seriously considered posting one of them, including 'It is said to be extraordinarily painful to lose the surface of one’s tongue.' But the quote I chose is far scarier. Preston gives historical examples of how filoviruses can surface, spread and hit the global air travel network in a matter of days.The rain forest has its own defenses. The earth’s immune system, so to speak, has recognized the presence of the human species and is starting to kick in. The earth is attempting to rid itself of an infection by the human parasite. Perhaps AIDS is the first step in a natural process of clearance.