FDA Cracks Down On Fake Ebola Cures Sold Online

Ben Dempsey
Author: Lauren Silverman
Published: October 23, 2014
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/23/358318848/fda-cracks-down-on-fake-ebola-cures-sold-online?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science


Summary: Since the recent Ebola outbreak in west Africa, many people have been worried that the virus would spread near to them and they could contract it. Nearly 5000 people have died as a result of the outbreak and there is no cure or vaccine yet though several are being worked on. Companies online have begun selling Ebola "cures" and "vaccines". These products are fake and don't have any impact on stopping the virus. The FDA (Food And Drug Administration) has started to send warnings to these companies threatening them with legal action if they do not stop selling their products. They are worried about them because they trick consumers into thinking they are safe from Ebola, and could have other unknown side effects. Some of these "cures" contain Nano Silver (anti-bacterial powder), Vitamin-C, and Snake Venom. 

Relevance: This article is relevant to what we are learning in class for several reasons. The first reason is that we are learning about cells and how they work. One thing that we learned is that cells in the human body produce antibodies. These antibodies are created to destroy viruses, such as Ebola. Before an antibody can be created to destroy a virus, it has to be specific to the type and strain of virus you are infected with, and you must have already beaten that virus before or been vaccinated. Without either of these things, you don't have the information needed to create antibodies that destroy the virus. There is not a vaccine to Ebola and few people have survived it, so most aren't immune. What we learned in class proves that these "cures" don't stop the virus and that is why it is relevant.