Recent Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Ebola Virus Disease

Outbreaks of Ebola virus, a causative agent of hemorrhagic fever, in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have highlighted the need for assays that can rapidly identify individuals infected with Ebola virus. These assays need to accurately detect and rule-out Ebola virus disease (EVD) and, ideally, not require advanced laboratory techniques. Over the course of the most recent outbreaks, field studies have evaluated the performance of rapid antigen and automated molecular tests, many of which were given emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. Overall, molecular assays demonstrated high sensitivity, while antigen testing had the highest sensitivity when the viral load was high. Specificity was high across the evaluated test options. In addition to the evaluation of diagnostic test methods, newly developed treatment options and the efficacy of ring vaccination to prevent disease transmission have been investigated. Findings from these field studies have demonstrated that many of the newly developed diagnostic assays, as well as experimental treatments and vaccination, are promising tools for controlling EVD.