Mayinga N. Character Analysis in The Hot Zone

A young, smart, and talented nurse in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mayinga catches Ebola Zaire (the most deadly type of the virus) from a dying nun. Rather than immediately isolate herself, however, she attempts to hide her sickness because it may jeopardize her ability to travel to Europe on a scholarship. Her travel throughout the city at this time puts millions of people at risk of exposure, and she eventually dies in the very hospital where she once worked. After her death, her blood is shipped to USAMRIID for research, and later it nearly infects Nancy Jaax.

Mayinga N. Character Timeline in The Hot Zone

The timeline below shows where the character Mayinga N. appears in The Hot Zone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Preston relates, have been injected with a specific type of Ebola Zaire known as the Mayinga strain, because it was found within the blood of a nurse named Mayinga N., who... (full context)

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Gene Johnson, we learn, has been injecting Mayinga’s blood into the monkeys, and then attempting to treat them with various drugs when they... (full context)

...to Marburg. Next Sister E.R. fell ill and died, after being cared for by Nurse Mayinga. Soon after this, Mayinga developed a terrible headache, but remained in denial because she had... (full context)

Rather than seeking treatment, Mayinga left her job and traveled into the city to obtain travel permits before she grew... (full context)

...in Geneva. The place went on high alert, as its employees waited to see whether Mayinga had infected the population of Kinshasa. Countries began to consider blocking all flights from the... (full context)

Meanwhile, back in Ngaliema Hospital, Mayinga was being completely quarantined. Her main physician, a South African doctor named Margaretha Isaäcson, at... (full context)

Medical teams had located thirty-seven people who had encountered Mayinga while she was infected, and quarantined all of them. Karl Johnson, meanwhile, had heard nothing... (full context)

...that of a man named Boniface who died of Ebola Sudan; and that of Nurse Mayinga, who died of Ebola Zaire. When the results are finally ready, Peter Jahrling looks through... (full context)