I like to read about how viruses work, and how drugs work (I was a biochemistry major and pharmacology grad student.) As a homeschooling mom, all of my kids read a book about the first outbreak of the Ebola virus in 1976, called The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus
. If your kids are high school age, get them this book and of course, read it yourself. Since then, I have also read another true story, The Demon in the Freezer.Â
Ebola Virus Cycle
One of the best things about homeschooling your kids is that you can take advantage of what is happening in the world. High School biology becomes interesting when you see it in the news. After I read this book, back in 2001, I learned that Clorox Bleach is a great decontaminant. I learned that some viruses are deadly — with no cure. Some are worse than others, and the Zaire Ebola is the deadliest — with death rates at 90 percent. Since then, scientists have developed an Ebola vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV.
And that’s the ebola strain out there now. Pull out your maps, science books, and settle down for a page-turning account of how this virus was discovered. Sorry, I can’t say it’s comforting, but it’s a good read.
And — It’s all true.
I just listened to this Hidden Brain podcast about an ebola virus outbreak. It is interesting to see how the governments handle this, and what does not work, as well as what does work to contain the spread of the virus. This is a quick intro to the podcast:
It may sound like the plot of a movie: police find a young man dead with stab wounds. Tests quickly show he’d had Ebola.
Officials realize the suspects in the case, men in a local gang, may have picked up and spread Ebola across the slum where they live. These men are reluctant to quarantine themselves and some – including a man nicknamed “Time Bomb” – cannot even be found.
This scenario actually unfolded in the West African nation of Liberia in 2015. And what followed was a truly unconventional effort by epidemiologists to stop a new Ebola outbreak. Â The Hidden Brain: Panic In The Street: How Psychology Shaped The Response To An Epidemic
Further Reading:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Ebola
The World Health Organization (WHO): Ebola
