Ebola Virus Disease and Current Therapeutic Strategies: A Review

Kalliopi Io Diakou; Thanasis Mitsis; Katerina Pierouli; Eleni Papakonstantinou; Erik Bongcam-Rudloff; Misaki Wayengera; Dimitrios Vlachakis

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-78787-5_18

Ebola Virus Disease and Current Therapeutic Strategies: A Review

Adv Exp Med Biol. 2021:1339:131-137. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-78787-5_18.

Authors

Kalliopi Io Diakou¹, Thanasis Mitsis¹, Katerina Pierouli¹, Eleni Papakonstantinou¹, Erik Bongcam-Rudloff², Misaki Wayengera³, Dimitrios Vlachakis^{4

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Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
² SLU-Global Bioinformatics Centre, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics Science, University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
³ Department of Pathology, Unit of Genetics & Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ DarkDNA Group, Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece. dimvl@aua.gr.
⁵ Lab of Molecular Endocrinology, Center of Clinical, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece. dimvl@aua.gr.
⁶ Department of Informatics, Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, King's College London, Strand, London, UK. dimvl@aua.gr.

PMID: 35023100
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78787-5_18

Abstract

The Ebola virus disease is a severe hemorrhagic fever that affects humans and other primates. Ebola virus, the causative agent of the disease, is transmitted to humans from wild animals and is highly contagious and aggressive with an estimated fatality rate to be around 50%. Since 1976, 11 outbreaks of Ebola virus disease have been reported in total, affecting mostly sub-Saharan Africa, while the most recent ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has more than 3000 reported cases and 72 deaths. Although an effective vaccine against Ebola virus disease has become available, no targeted treatment with proven efficacy upon infection is developed. Herein, we review the epidemiology of Ebola virus and the current situation in terms of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.

Keywords: Ebola virus; Epidemiology; Infectious disease; Treatment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Wild
Disease Outbreaks
Ebolavirus*
Fever
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola* / diagnosis
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola* / epidemiology
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola* / prevention & control