Warning: That Ebola Cure You Found Online Isn’t an Ebola Cure
It’s possible you don’t believe the Centers for Disease Control when they say that Ebola isn’t spread easily. It’s possible you don’t believe the miniscule statistical likelihood that you’ll ever come in contact with the virus. It’s possible you’ve been searching the Internet for a cure or some sort of home-remedy vaccination. Well, you can stop. While there are companies pedaling them, there are no legitimate cures for Ebola to be found online.
According to the FDA, at least three companies are selling fake Ebola cures online. There are false treatments for the deadly virus like snake venom, vitamin C, Nano Silver, clove oil and oregano advertised to concerned consumers.
The fact is that there is no cure, treatment or vaccine for Ebola that is approved by the FDA. There is no drug or treatment that has had close to enough testing to be made available to patients or consumers. This means that anything you might find online is worthless and a waste of money—and won’t protect you from Ebola.
“Consumers who are misled by false claims may delay seeking the medical care they need, such as proper diagnosis and supportive care,” said Gary Coody, national health fraud coordinator for the FDA.
Ralph Fucetola, representative of Natural Solutions Foundation, one of the companies contacted by the FDA after they found their site was claiming their product Nano Silver could effectively kill Ebola said, “We understand that there is no approved treatment for Ebola. Since we are in the middle of negotiating with the government with regard to how we can best describe what we believe is a very important health breakthrough, we are not using the legal term of art ‘treatment of disease.’ ”
The FDA is taking the statements of these companies very seriously. Any online claim that something can treat or cure Ebola is misleading and dangerous. If you find something, you should report it to the FDA.