Good Morning America mentions ebola!

Stop the universe from expanding! Just this AM, the awful morning "news"(??) television program gave few precious minutes of airtime to the West African ebola epidemic. Of course the sub-text is that l'épidémie most likely only got some airtime because..you guessed it..another American doctor has tested positive for ebola. Yes, a US citizen. GMA is the only TV news that I watch; and that is only because it what the television is tuned to during my morning wake-up coffee. At least the epidemic was acknowledged.

It is very sobering that my updated ebola case and fatality graph has proven to be eerily accurate.

I was going to link to an article that states what is abundantly clear to anyone following the outbreak in West Afice; that ebola cases are "likely increase in the coming weeks." I do not think that necessary.

However, I have found a new source of interesting data--at least potentially--related to all of the ebola outbreaks to date. This one too, is sobering. Africa: Banning Bushmeat to Stem Ebola Outbreaks Is Unworkable, Expert Says. A fascinating read. One need be wary of the "parinet zero" claim in the article. To the best of my knowledge, the 2 year old toddler has not been definitively identified as "patient zero," but was, at least certainly was among the first to break with ebola.

Both linked articles have some nebulous data on ebola's circulation in nature, and while bats--especially fruit bats--are almost certainly a primary source as ebola virus antibodies have been found in fruit bats, it may be that there are other hosts as well. Fruit bats are a confirmed natural host. The bushmeat piece is my ebola addition for this entry. The other stuff is all filler.