Overview of The Diagnostics, Treatments And Vaccines for Ebola Virus Infection

Overview of The Diagnostics, Treatments And Vaccines for Ebola Virus Infection

In recent years the Ebola virus disease has continued to reoccur in Africa, especially in West Africa. From 2013 to 2016, this devastating epidemic became the most widespread outbreak in history. The World Health Organization (WHO) therefore declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on this particular outbreak. The Ebola outbreak not only affected West Africa, but also spread across borders to other countries, infecting many people including health care personnel. To effectively prevent and control t'he epidemic, many international organizations have been devoting to the research of diagnosis and treatments, developing medicines and vaccines against Ebola virus; some progress has successfully been made. In Taiwan, no case had been detected to date. Nevertheless, in order to prepare for the possible spread of the outbreak in the future, collecting all the information relating to this disease is critical. We overviewed the most updated international research regarding to the disease features, laboratory diagnostics, therapies and vaccines, serving not only as a reference for public health policy-making but also as a guideline for health care personnel to follow when coping with the challenge of the epidemic.