What Do We Know About Controlling Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks?

Abstract

The West African Ebola Virus Disease outbreak was unprecedented in size, dwarfing all previous outbreaks by some magnitude. Nearly, more than 28 000 people had been infected, with more than 11 000 deaths recorded. This review article will highlight some of the major public health and therapeutic advances realised during this outbreak, as well as pointing readers to key review articles on the different aspects of disease control. It will describe the multifaceted international response and detail how the response efforts allied traditional public health approaches and novel models of intervention. It will review the shift from a humanitarian response paradigm to real-time evidence-based decision making, including modelling of potential interventions, novel interventional treatment studies, and pragmatic vaccine trials.