Ebola Hysteria and Panic. An ADHDer's Perspective

People tell me I need better hobbies.  These people are probably correct.  While "normal" folks might read novels or watch zombie movies, I read epidemiology and virology as well as neurobiology and mental health issues.  I consider this "casual reading".

If you were to examine my library, you would find a section on costuming and jewelry and a section on ADHD, Autism, Neurobiology, Mental Health... and disease- virus based disease.

Smallpox?  I own several histories on Smallpox and it's eradication- and WHY it could be eradicated.  Influenza?  Have a few histories of the pandemic of 1918 and projections of possible future epidemics and potential pandemics.

Exotics?  I have books that cover Dengue, Malaria, Hantavirus, General Arenavirus', HIV/AIDS and Botulism.

I also own books- several- written by the people who fought the demons up close- Piot, McCormack, Peters, and more- I own the work of the investigators.

Then there is the section on Filovirus.  Ebola and Marburg.

I have read every book in my library and have searched for additional information on each one.

Filovirus is a batsh*t scary kinda thing.  It makes no sense whatsoever.  It doesn't look like anything else so it almost has no classification, there doesn't SEEM like there is a natural host- although there are species implicated- it isn't possible to clearly define a host.

Emergence of both Marburg and Ebola has been frightening and- very oddly- reassuring... although that reassurance is becoming more and more removed.

So- like an ADHDer, I look for facts.  I manage in the big picture and strongly believe that if you can do this, you can solve for the smaller picture.

Ebola emerged...again.  Not the first time, not the last.  In general and in the past outbreaks, it emerged, burned out, and went back to hide.  This time it hit large population centers and hit hard.  In addition, spread occurred- possibly because of a lack of awareness of what Ebola is and what it tends to look like in countries where it is likely to occur.

It looks like Malaria in the early stages.  Very likely, the "index" or first patient, appeared to local medical workers as yet another patient with Malaria.  That patient was likely treated with anti-malarial medications and sent home.

Burial customs in that part of the world require that the deceased be evacuated of bodily waste among other things.  Mourners come in very close contact with the deceased in the process of mourning- hugging, kissing, and touching.  Soon, the attendants of the burial of that first patient are now infected- and spreading disease.

We live in a massively connected world.  Ebola can certainly fly out of its country of origin  and to a variety of places.  It has done.

I hear screaming to shut down air travel to the affected areas.  I hear the CDC retaliating that they have stringent policies in place.  The US is terrified and screams out it's terror while a government that is mostly distrusted is trying to manage the nearly impossible.

From this ADHDer's perspective, what do you do?

Bleach is the filovirus' worst enemy.  Antibacterial hand wash won't cut it.  A cheap spray bottle filled with an 80/20 mix of Clorox works.  If you think you are in contact with things that are potentially contaminated, use it.

I heard a woman state on O'Reilly"s show that we don't know which strain of Ebola this is.  *sigh*  The strain was proven long ago- thus proving that O'Reilly's guest had no clue what she was talking about.  The strain is Zaire.  Her belief that it was Reston is massively idiotic.  Reston does not infect humans.  The Reston Strain infected imports of monkeys during quarantine prior to release to testing labs.  Through the magnificent work of USAMRIID coupled with CDC and an alert veterinarian, that presence of Ebola- human negative- was managed.  Thanks to Drs. C.J. Peters, Nancy Jaxx, Jerry Jaxx, Peter Jharling, Joe McCormack, and so many others.

Oh wait- her claim was that Ebola Reston communicates to dogs.  Umm... not by science.  Maybe by panic.


So what can science confirm?  Well, we know that the "prodrome" or the entire length of time between exposure and evidence of disease is 21 days.  We also know that normal incubation is nine days or less.  That said, the prodrome is 21 days.

The family of Thomas Eric Duncan are planning to sue due to "racial bias".  I truthfully believe that they will come out of quarantine on 19 October with no ill effect.  As an American, I wonder how they would feel about being sued by the American people.  Thomas Eric Duncan brought Ebola to our shores.  He lied to escape his country of origin.  His unwise act has now imperiled an American who only sought to help.


How do we deal with this?  I ain't God.  What I am is someone who has studied this virus because I find it endlessly fascinating.  I'm also someone who believes that some things are true.

Do you work with a constantly changing population from Africa?  Give up your antibac hand cleaner and go for a bleach solution.

Screaming for an end of travel from affected countries?  It won't work and can serve to spread disease.  If travel is stopped from the affected countries, people will go to places that travel is NOT stopped.  Those places may not be equipped to manage Ebola or to recognize it.  Those places might then become new sources of Ebola.  This brings new problems.  Stopping travel isn't as easy as it may sound.

You may or may not trust the gov.  That's valid.  What you CAN trust is that a bleach solution will kill Ebola if you believe that you have been exposed.


We can choose to see panic while it builds around you- and ignore it with knowledge gleaned from science.  We can also chose to reject panic in favor of what can be scientifically proven.

Not ADHD, But Kinda

Something that is an odd but persistent artifact of ADHD is the ability to become wrapped up in a subject or set of subjects that are endlessly fascinating.  This is one of the reasons that many don't believe the idea of "inattention".  When we find the focus of our attention, it has ALL our attention.

I'm guilty.

I enjoy antiques, beadwork, sewing, jewelry making, painting, depression glass, quilting, porcelain dolls, and a few other oddities.  I'm obsessed by forensics, epidemiology, and virology.  Specifically, I am obsessed with filoviruses- Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa Fever.

Why?  Dunno.

I discovered virology in the 70's and proceeded to read every word available- and have continued to do so.  I met Ebola in the early 80's through meager published papers and added Marburg to my list, shortly followed by Lassa Fever.  I read every word I could find.

In 2014, I have continued to read every word I can find.  In the world of the Internet, I read everything online resources could provide, I bought every book i thought might be relevant- and even when I found myself reading epidemiological garbage, I scoured those pages for real science.  Sometimes I even found some.

Dr. William Close is my hero.  Just sayin'.  The world lost a real medical hero when he died.  

Today, I am finding that my odd "hobby" has a place.  This is nothing I ever expected.

So if you read my blog and find that you are confused by the screaming reports that seem to be fielded by everyone with an agenda that has nothing to do with Ebola and everything to do with scaring you, I might be able to help.

Can Ebola spread through air?  No.  For some years there was a theory that a nurse named Mayinga might have gotten the disease as she cared for a Belgian nursing Sister in Ngaliema.  The thepry was that young Mayinga had observed the requirements of barrier nursing.  The fact was that barrier nursing procedures were not in place at the time that Mayinga  cared for the Belgian Sister.  Dr. Margarethe Issacson- one of the first to respond to the outbreak, insured that barrier nursing would be in place.  

A novel by Tom Clancy theorized a "Mayinga Strain" of Ebola.  There was never any such thing.  A brilliant novel does not fact make.  PERIOD.

That guy in Texas infected EVERYBODY!!!  No.  As I write this, the family members- those who were closest to the acknowledged patient- have had no symptoms.  While we have to wait out the prodrome, Ebola moves faster, generally.

Surveillance is just that.  A group that we consider.  We watch and consider.  People who came in contact with that guy in Texas.  

Ebola has morphed and can spread through the air!!!  Umm.  No.  Near as I can tell that thinking is based in Richard Preston's telling of Reston Ebola outbreak in a monkey quarantine location in Reston.  While that virus was deadly to monkeys, it never spread to a single human.

Ebola is going to kill us all!!!  Not according to my Magic 8-Ball.  What CAN kill is a lack of information combined with a lack of trust.  

This is hard.  There are NO easy answers.  Many don't believe that the Government is giving us good info and really we want to know that we won't die bleeding from every orifice.  

Ebola is a "stuffy" virus.  It wants everything to be what it wants in order to invade a new host.

People tell me that docs and nurses who KNOW barrier nursing would NEVER allow a break.  Not true.  The most casual break can be the portal for a sub-microscopic virus. 

Crossing a barrier is too easy.  Touching oneself is a way of grounding- a way to "feel" centered.  Unfortunately, that can also mean that the barrier is broken.

Finally, ADHD does NOT cause Ebola.  But an ADHDer might help you understand it.