'Just give me a few viruses.' When young researcher Guido van der Groen went to his boss with that request in 1976, it marked the start of an improbable career as a virus hunter. A cheap thermos flask containing blood samples from a deceased Belgian missionary in Zaïre put him on the trail of a 'humdinger' of a virus: Ebola. In the autumn of 1976 he left for Africa with an international team to track down the deadly virus. With the recent devastating outbreak in West Africa, van der Groen meets his old enemy and 'mistress' again after forty years. On the Trail of Ebola tells the exciting life story of a celebrated researcher and the dangerous viruses that lurk everywhere. It's a story of brilliant science in sometimes abominable circumstances, of lurching between misery and hope, between fierce criticism and disarming humour. A unique document for anyone wishing to gain insight into viruses and the mass hysteria they can cause.
