THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

To call the people preying on the Ebola fears of the many by hawking fake cures and protections by that name. In Nature, bottom feeders serve the function of cleaning up the environment. In society, the scammers are what needs to be cleaned up.

Scammers are cashing in on Americans’ Ebola panic by offering bogus “cures” and treatments containing everything from herbal oils and dark chocolate to silver and snake venom, federal officials say.

Some websites offer personal protection kits that include full body “germ protection suits,” rubber gloves, face masks, disinfectant spray and “natural” dietary supplements that sellers claim can prevent infection.

One such site, Dr. Rima Truth Reports, at drrimatruthreports.com, sold personal protection packs and family protection packs that included products called “Nano Silver” and “CBD organic dark chocolate bars.” The site advertised these supposed nutrients as nontoxic treatments for Ebola, citing what it described as research funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter last month to the New Jersey company that runs the Dr. Rima website, Natural Solutions Foundation, warning that promoting silver or chocolate as a cure for Ebola was a violation of federal law.

In response to the letter, the company posted a statement online, arguing that the agencies have no authority to regulate its products.

“FDA has been itching to ban silver and other natural remedies for decades because they are cheap, effective, compete successfully with antibiotics and are safe for everyone,” said the statement.

The company then directed readers how to donate to its legal defense fund.

The letter was one of at least three such warnings the FDA and FTC sent last month to companies for advertising products that supposedly treat or cure Ebola, the virus that’s devastated communities in parts of West Africa and killed one man in the United States.

The other two companies, Young Living and dōTERRA International LLC, allegedly claimed that essential oils of cinnamon bark and oregano could ward off Ebola and other diseases, according to the letters.

There are no FDA-approved vaccines or cures for Ebola, and experimental drugs to treat the disease are in very early stages of development, the agency said in a consumer alert.

If a fool and his money are soon parted, then we are a country of fools. And those that use the fear of others to make money are the worst of a bad lot.

UPDATE: And the latest twist is using Ebola themed e-mails to spread malware viruses to your computer.