Ebola

Some links - for info, research, news....


Ebola SubReddit:   reddit.com/r/ebola/new/

This is my main source for keeping up with developments. As of OCT 2014, there are 100-200 posts per day, mainly links to news articles from around the world. Also questions, answers, discussions.


Wikipedia:

About the Ebola Virus Disease:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease

About the Ebola Virus:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebolavirus

About the 2014 Ebola Epidemic:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa

About viruses in general:
(Did you know that scientists do not agree on whether or not viruses are alive?)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus

About biosafety levels:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level


Official Government Sites:

US CDC - Center for Disease Prevention and Control:
www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola

US NIH - National Institutes of Health:
www.nih.gov/health/ebola.htm

US NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:
www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ebolamarburg/research/

USAID - United States Agency for International Development:
www.usaid.gov/ebola

Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, US HHS
www.phe.gov/preparedness/responders/ebola/

PHAC - Public Health Agency of Canada:
www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/diseases-conditions-maladies-affections/disease-maladie/ebola/index-eng.php

ECDC European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:
ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/ebola_marburg_fevers/

WHO - World Health Organization (Main Ebola Page):
www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/

UNMEER - United Nations Mission for Emergency Ebola Response:
www.un.org/ebolaresponse

AMRIID - US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases:
www.usamriid.mil/
(can download or read online PDF of "Blue Book" - Medical Management of Biological Casualites Handbook)
(ebola is covered in chapter on "viral hemorrhagic fevers")


NGOs:

MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders):
www.msf.org/diseases/ebola

OXFAM International:
www.oxfam.org/en/emergencies/ebola-response

ALIMA - Alliance for International Medical Action: (operating in Mali)
www.alimaong.org/en


Sources for News and Information:

Ebola discussion forum at Reddit (/r/ebola):
(posting of news article links is very up-to-the-minute, google is up to 4 hours behind)
reddit.com/r/ebola/new/

H5N1 Blog (Crawford Killian) - Excellent Selected Ebola News and Links:
crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/

CIDRAP Ebola Page: (University of Minnesota Center for Disease Research and Policy)
www.cidrap.umn.edu/infectious-disease-topics/ebola#literature

CNN Ebola Coverage:
www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/health/ebola-2014/

This Week in Virology - Weekly Podcast (over 90 minutes)
(serious but accessible discussion, hosted by microbiologists, interviewing other microbiologists):
www.twiv.tv

Virology Blog:
www.virology.ws/ebolavirus/

NEJM - New England Journal of Medicine - Ebola Page:
www.nejm.org/page/ebola-outbreak

Another Ebola forum at Reddit (/r/EVD, started 10/17/14):
reddit.com/r/EVD

Another Ebola forum at Reddit (/r/ebolaOutbreak, started 10/02/14):
reddit.com/r/ebolaOutbreak

Automatic posting of Ebola news links at Reddit (/r/EbolaNewsBot):
reddit.com/r/EbolaNewsBot

Google Search in NEWS for EBOLA:
www.google.com/search?q=ebola&num=100&tbm=nws

LiveScience:
livescience.com/48235-ebola-outbreak-news.html

Ebola Wiki:
Ebola Wiki - ebola-wiki.com/Special:AllPages

Pathenogen Perspectives: (a scientist's blog)
www.pathogenperspectives.com/

MSF Ebola Blog - Posts by staff of MSF (Doctors Without Borders) in Africa:
blogs.msf.org/en/staff/blogs/msf-ebola-blog

Twitter - hashtag Ebola:
twitter.com/hashtag/Ebola

Weapbola - The Dangers of Weaponized Ebola:
www.weapbola.com

Huffington Post - Ebola News:
www.huffingtonpost.com/news/ebola/

The Latest: Ebola in the US - Continually Updated Page at The Atantic:
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/10/ebola-in-the-us/381575/

ProMED-mail
(email lists for current infectious disease info - can read reports online):
www.promedmail.org/

Peter Sandman - Writings on Ebola Risk Communication:
psandman.com/articles/Ebolalist.htm


Selected Articles:

Check this out! A stunningly beautiful (or terrifying) look at an ebola virion (a single virus particle or organism). This is a poster of a detailed 3-model of an ebola virion created by the Russian company Visual Science.
visualscience.ru/en/projects/ebola/poster/

And here is a really cool animation showing the relative size of an ebola virion:
www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm

Understanding the Ebola Virus - John Timmer - Ars Technica 11/04/14:
(some technical physiological info, includes some illustrations)
arstechnica.com/science/2014/11/understanding-the-ebola-virus/

Ebolavirus Genome - Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics:
viralzone.expasy.org/all_by_species/207.html

Hell in the Hot Zone - Jeffrey E. Stern - Vanity Fair OCT 2014
www.vanityfair.com/politics/2014/10/ebola-virus-epidemic-containment

Dr. Ada Igonoh, infected by first Nigerian ebola patient in July, tells the story of her sickness and recovery.
dailypost.ng/2014/09/15/ebola-second-doctor-infected-patrick-sawyer-survives-tells-full-story/

Ebola and the new Isolationism - David Quamman - Time Magazine OCT 6 2014
time.com/3475106/ebola-country-borders-new-isolationism

Ebola: Is Bushmeat Behind the Outbreak? BBC OCT 18 2014
www.bbc.com/news/health-29604204

Ebola: Failures of Imagination - Jody Landard and Peter Sandman -OCT 24, 2014
psandman.com/col/Ebola-3.htm

Nature: The Ebola Questions - Erika Check Hayden OCT 29, 2014
www.nature.com/news/the-ebola-questions-1.16243


Books, Movies

Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus by David Quammen
2014 WW Norton 128 pages (paperback $13.95) ISBN10:0393351556 ISBN13:9780393351552
www.amazon.com/dp/0393351556
Author's website: www.davidquammen.com/
Review - New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/books/ebola-a-history-by-david-quammen.html

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
www.amazon.com/dp/0385479565
This is a best-selling non-fiction book about Ebola published in 1994. I read it when it came out and I agree with horror writer Stephen King, who said it is the scariest thing he ever read. Very interesting book, and I recommend it, but it may be a bit sensationalist. Here is a bit of criticism:
scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2014/10/21/the-hot-zone-and-the-mythos-of-ebola/

The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett
www.amazon.com/dp/0140250913
Review - New York Times (1994): www.nytimes.com/1994/11/09/books/books-of-the-times-a-frightening-portrait-of-a-threat-to-the-species.html

Contagion
www.amazon.com/dp/B0069UP2PI
This is a fiction film by Steven Soderberg released in 2011. It touches on many aspects of a worldwide virus pandemic and is noted for its scientific accuracy. Highly recommended.

A discussion on non-fiction ebola books at reddit:
reddit.com/r/ebola/comments/2jehbd/

Here is an interesting article from the Washington Post from OCT 2014, indicating that there are dozens of self-published books about ebola popping up at amazon.com. So there may be quite a few books about ebola that would be best avoided.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/02/popular-on-amazon-wildly-misleading-self-published-books-about-ebola-by-random-people-without-medical-degrees


Some Possible Alternative Treatments
Note that I am NOT recommending or making any claims about any alternative treatments. Officially there is no cure for ebola disease. Hopefully there will be vaccines and/or effective treatments at some point. These are just some things that some people may want to consider investigating. (google for additional links and info)

Vitamin C (megadoses) (effects of ebola are similar to scurvy)
betweentwopines.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/can-vitamin-c-cure-ebola/
whitewraithe.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/breaking-news-anonymous-doctor-releases-treatment-for-the-ebola-virus/
jimstonefreelance.com/

MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) (possible anti-viral) www.keavyscorner.com

Colloidal Silver/Nano Silver (possible anti-viral) (can purchase at amazon.com)
www.riskscience.umich.edu/nano-silver-used-treat-ebola-victims-nigeria/
thesilveredge.com/colloidal-silver-and-the-ebola-hysteria.shtml
thesilveredge.com/ebola-mania-round-2.shtml

Oil of Oregano (possible anti-viral)

Garlic (possible anti-viral, some say makes ebola worse)

Vitamin D (possible anti-viral, some doctors recommend for flu)

BHT (possibly anti-viral against lipid-coated viruses - herpes, hepatitus, ebola)
www.advance-health.com/bht.html

New scientific article on possible use of melatonin to treat ebola:
(Journal of Pineal Research SEP 27, 2014)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpi.12186/pdf

CBD (Cannabidiol, from cannabis) - Cannabis Digest OCT 10, 2014 - David B Allen M.D.:
cannabisdigest.ca/cbd-protective-ebola-virus


"Alternative" Sites: (take with a grain of salt - conspiracy theories, censored news, possible alternative remedies)
(really - be careful reading this stuff!)

New York Times Article about Ebola Conspiracy Theories (10/19/14)
www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/sunday-review/the-ebola-conspiracy-theories.html

Discussion of Ebola Conspiracy Theories at Reddit (10/18/14):
reddit.com/r/ebola/comments/2jn7hy/


What Really Happened (worldwide alternative news roundup site)
whatreallyhappened.com/category/sciencehealthclimatenature Mike Rivero

tetrahedron.org - Len Horowitz

birdflu666.wordpress.com - Jane Burgermeister

naturalnews.com

jimstonefreelance.com/

Bioweapons Expert Reaffirms Belief Ebola Escaped Biowarfare Lab 10/27/14
www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/10/bioweapons-expert-reaffirms-belief-ebola-escaped-biowarfare-lab.html


Is it OK to Make Jokes About Ebola? (You decide.)

From The Onion: How to Protect Yourself Against Ebola
www.theonion.com/articles/how-to-protect-yourself-against-ebola,37085/

From The Onion: What You Need to Know About Ebola
www.theonion.com/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-ebola,37137/

Better Ebola Czars:
freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3216640/posts

A pageful of Ebola humor from the Happy Hospitalist:
thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2014/08/Ebola-Virus-Humor-Memes-Stories.html


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This page revised 11/20/14.    First posted to the web 10/01/14.