If you want to understand ebola, read this book.

Top: Influenza virus. Bottom: Ebola virus (Wikimedia Commons)

Although I shouldn't be surprised, there's no shortage of nonsense and ignorance surrounding ebola, those infected by it, and our response to it, from Donald Trump > to right-wing ranters (who make a living ranting, not making sense).

This book is a readable, apolitical, insightful analysis of the 1918 influenza epidemic, social factors, medical response, and behaviors that contributed to an estimated death toll of 50 million people. I read it maybe a year or more ago and thought I'd recommend it here. I couldn't put it down.

The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History >

Blaming a person or office or administration won't solve the problem, and it could be a very serious one.

[2014-10-16]

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