PURPOSE OF REVIEW Ebola virus, a member of the Filoviridae family, is a causative agent of severe viral hemorrhagic fever in humans. Over the past 40 years, the virus has been linked to several high mortality outbreaks in Africa with the recent West African outbreak resulting in over 11,000 deaths. This review provides a summary of the status of the drug discovery and development process for th...

A major Ebola outbreak occurs in West Africa since March 2014, being the deadliest epidemic in history. As an infectious disease epidemiology, Ebola is the most lethal and is moving faster than in previous outbreaks. On 8 August 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Last update on 7 July 2015 by WHO reports 27 609 cas...

Editorials 622 The large number of cases and wide geographical spread distinguish the current 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in west Africa from all known earlier outbreaks. 1 In the past, outbreaks of this disease have been stopped by identifying all cases, tracing all contacts and making sure that those caring for patients use correct protective gear at all times. However, the success o...

The 2014 West African Ebola virus disease outbreak was the largest to date, and conflicting, chlorine-based surface disinfection protocols to interrupt disease transmission were recommended. We identified only one study documenting surface disinfection efficacy against the Ebola virus, showing a >6.6 log reduction after 5-minute exposure to 0.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) based on small-scale ...

Public involvement in efforts to control the current Ebola virus disease epidemic requires understandable information. We reviewed the readability of Ebola information from public health agencies in non-Ebola-affected areas. A substantial proportion of citizens would have difficulty understanding existing information, which would potentially hinder effective health-seeking behaviors.

The severe Ebola virus disease epidemic occurring in West Africa stems from a single zoonotic transmission event to a 2-year-old boy in Meliandou, Guinea. We investigated the zoonotic origins of the epidemic using wildlife surveys, interviews, and molecular analyses of bat and environmental samples. We found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak in larger wildlife. Exposure to fruit bats is com...