Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks: Diagnosis for effective epidemic disease management and control

Abstract

The first Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan in 1976 and then emerged in West Africa in 2014 with a total of 27,741 cases and 11,284 deaths. The fever is caused by the Ebola virus, which belongs to the Filoviridae family and contains a ssRNA genome. The known subtypes of the virus are Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Reston ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Tai Forest ebolavirus, and Zaire ebolavirus. The Ebola outbreak was historically originated majorly from the East and Central African tropical belt. The current outbreaks in West Africa caused numerous deaths and spread fear in global society. In the absence of effective treatment strategies and any vaccine, accurate diagnosis is the most important contributing factor in the management and control of the epidemic disease. WHO (World Health Organization) has announced emergency guidance for the selection and use of Ebola in in vitro diagnostic assays. Numerous companies and research institutions have studied the various diagnosis methods and identified four WHO procurement approved as diagnosis kits: RealStar Ebolavirus Screen RT-PCR kit 1.0 (Altona), Liferiver-Ebola Virus (EBOV) Real time RT-PCR kit, Xpert Ebola Assay, and ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test Kit. The efficiency of novel diagnostic kits such as Rapid Diagnosis Test (RDT) is currently being evaluated. ? 2017, The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology.