For $34 (plus $5.49 shipping), you can purchase a personal protective kit on Amazon that will probably do nothing to protect you against Ebola.

Fortunately, there hasn't been an Ebola outbreak in the U.S., and your chances of catching it—even without the kit—are virtually zero. But that hasn't stopped sales of this kind of equipment from skyrocketing in the past month.

Sales of the kit—which includes a full-body suit, eye protection, two surgical masks, two pairs of gloves, booties, and duct tape—jumped 393 percent on Amazon following the diagnosis of the first Ebola case in New York City on Thursday evening. Sales of one body suit skyrocketed 131,000 percent in 24 hours after the diagnosis of the first Ebola patient in the U.S. on Oct. 1, according to CNBC.

The attempt to make money off of panic surrounding new disease outbreaks is nothing new: The H1N1 outbreak in 2009 resulted in the sale of products like "Tamiflu" pills from India and "magic wands," while the SARS epidemic in 2003 led companies to hike the price of face masks.

"[What we're seeing with Ebola] fits into previous outbreaks," said Thomas Bollyky, global health, economics, and development senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The necessary ingredients to this type of profiteering are twofold: panic and novelty. In times of uncertainty, people search out information, and if they're still nervous, they'll search it out from unconventional sources, which is what's happening here."

The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission are actively monitoring fraudulent claims and urging consumers to report any they might encounter. If there is an express or implied claim that the product prevents or treats Ebola, that would be cause for intervention, as there are currently no FDA-approved vaccines or prescription or over-the-counter drugs to fight the virus.

"It's hard to tell how widespread it is at this point," said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the Division of Advertising Practices at FTC. "The concern is that if the public anxiety over Ebola continues to grow, we're going to see more and more."

The FDA and FTC have sent three warning letters thus far: to Natural Solutions Foundation, which is marketing Nano Silver as a cure for Ebola; and to Young Living and DōTerra International, which are both marketing essential oils to combat the virus.

"Often these things have some conceivable scientific basis that is then really overstated," said Dr. Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University. "We know for example that Nano Silver has properties where if viruses come into contact, it might counteract [them]. That's correct—but it has not been proven correct in humans."

Some companies will market their products as dietary supplements, or avoid making direct treatment or prevention claims in an attempt to avoid crossing the regulatory line.

"The only gray area is whether they're making a claim," Cleland said. "If they're running an article that talks about the Ebola epidemic and then selling vitamins and minerals that they're touting as increasing immunity and the immune system—to me that's a pretty clearly implied claim to have some effect on preventing and reducing Ebola. I don't really think there's any fuzziness on that."

One advertisement stands out as particularly crazy. "I saw one for snake venom that caused me to raise eyebrows," Cleland said.

So was that a claim addressed by the FDA and FTC? "I think you won't find it anymore."