Ceee-rist. New newsgroup

[Patrick O'Neil]

I am fortunate, in a way, to NOT be on a direct mailing list for this or 
any group.  As a result, my personal mailbox is not letter-bombed with 
the incredible profusion of Ebola posts.  The thread is more virulent 
than any virus ever discussed on this newsgroup.  Admittedly, at first I 
was quite interested in the outbreak of Ebola after a 25 or so year 
hiatus, and the timing...  In any case, though I certainly do understand 
the interest this viral outbreak has created, and the questions it brings 
to the minds of the general public, it is painfully destruptive, if not 
outright destructive, for so many people to go on at such a level about 
Ebola.  

Take a general look at the title index of this newsgroup.  Where before 
you might see a wide diversity of topics being discussed from ligand 
binding, to assays, to protein structure and function in viruses, now the 
diversity of titles has dropped to near zero.  Many virologists and 
related professionals have felt the need to bailout of this group which 
was set up primarily for them to crosstalk with others in the field 
because of the Ebola pollution.  

It is an interesting virus mainly because it is largely not 
understood...because it is simply not a major world virus.  A tendency to 
sporadically pop into plain sight does not make it equal to the attention 
it is being given.  Yes, it is nasty and quite deadly, but it is easily 
protected against through simple behavioral proceedures.  Wild speculation 
may be fun and exciting but it is not generally productive.  

In light of this Ebola overload, I too join the ranks of those who 
propose a new newsgroup dedicated to such discussion and question and 
answer in the general sense.  To prevent the limitation in such a group 
to discussion of Ebola, I lend support to a generalized title called 
bionet.infectious.disease or bionet.emerging.disease.  The next big 
Hantavirus outbreak, or Legionaires Disease, or Lassa fever, etc outbreak 
will lead to similar interest in them...and the Ebola outbreak in Zaire 
will die out as it has in the past and the toll this time will probably 
match that of the 1976 outbreak.  There are other things out there and 
they include bacteria and fungi as well as viruses.  That it why I 
suggest a broader newsgroup.  In this way, this newsgroup could go back 
into some semblance of its former shape and form, and there would be 
another group with a broader mandate and purpose.

I do not mind the occasioned question from an "outsider" but when the 
outsiders outnumber the insiders and inundate the group with questions 
and speculations and theories and even fantasies, it gets to be a bit 
much.  What say you all and how can this proposal come into fruition?

Patrick