Blog #1

One ethical dilemma faced in the novel The Hot Zone, is the treatment towards the monkeys who were injected with the Ebola virus. The positive side of this dilemma is that if the monkeys successfully resist the virus and live, it would result in the possibility of discovering a cure to the Ebola virus. However, the unethical dilemma of inserting the Ebola virus into the monkeys are the death rates and cruelty. Nancy and Thompson maintained the monkeys in tightly locked up cages inside of the laboratory, as to not allow them to interact with the uninfected or infected monkeys. Next on page 60, “Nancy Jaax and Tony Johnson inspected the monkeys, moving from cage to cage, until they found the two monkeys that had crashed and bled out.”  Later on in the same chapter, Jaax and Thompson proceed to dissect the deceased monkeys to inspect how the Ebola virus impacted their bodies inwardly. Nancy Jaax and Tony Johnson were the characters that were involved in the situation. Nancy was affected by this ethical dilemma by almost coming into contact with the Ebola virus due to the monkey dissections and a tear within her latex gloves. Johnson however, was not affected by the deaths of the monkeys like Nancy.