Ebola virus disease (EVD) news, resources and funding for global health researchers

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is an acute viral disease that often leads to severe illness and death in humans and other primates. The infection typically affects multiple organs in the body and is often accompanied by hemorrhage. Once the virus has been transmitted from an animal host to a human, it can then spread through person-to-person contact.

Scientists employed and funded by NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have been working for decades to develop tests to diagnose Ebola virus early, therapies to treat illness caused by the virus, and vaccines to prevent infection. Because of the past outbreaks in West Africa, NIAID's Vaccine Research Center is supporting the development and testing of investigational vaccines. NIAID is also researching the long-term health effects of Ebola on survivors.

Fogarty is supporting grants to plan research training and capacity building programs focused on emerging viral epidemics in collaboration with institutions in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Top News

• An Ebola therapy two decades in the making
  NIH researcher Dr Nancy Sullivan led development of cutting-edge treatment
  NIH Intramural Research Program blog post, February 10, 2021
• FDA approves treatment [evaluated in a clinical trial led by NIH, DRC’s Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale] for Ebola virus
  FDA news, December 21, 2020
• Reston Ebolavirus spreads efficiently in pigs, finding reveals potential for spread to humans
  NIAID/NIH news, December 21, 2020
• Ebola: Then, Now and the NIH [Video]
  NIH Demystifying Medicine Lecture, Recorded January 14, 2020
• Investigational drugs reduce risk of death from Ebola Virus Disease
  NIAID/NIH news, November 27, 2019
• Candidate Ebola vaccine still effective when highly diluted, macaque study finds
  NIAID/NIH media advisory, October 18, 2019
• Ebola in Zaire, 1976: The Past as Prologue [Video]
  featuring Fogarty senior scientist emeritus Dr. Joel Breman
  CDC, September 5, 2019
• NIAID’s ongoing Ebola efforts in Congo, elsewhere
  NIAID Funding News, September 05, 2019
  
• Investigational monoclonal antibody to treat Ebola is safe in adults
  NIAID/NIH news, January 25, 2019
  
• Experts highlight Ebola vaccine progress and suggest next steps
  NIAID/NIH news, August 13, 2018
• Related publication: Prevention of Ebola virus disease through vaccination: where we are in 2018
  The Lancet, August 10, 2018
• Scientists find strong immune cell responses in Ebola survivors
  NIAID Now blog, August 9, 2018
  
• NIAID responds to Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  NIAID Now blog, June 25, 2018
  

Top Resources

• CDC on Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease)
• CDC information for healthcare workers
• CDC Global Health Security Agenda
• About Ebola from NIAID
• About Ebola from NIH's MedlinePlus

NIH News and Resources

• Recorded webcast: Antibodies Against Ebola and Lassa: A Global Collaboration [Video]
  by Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D.
  Kinyoun Memorial Lecture from NIAID, December 5, 2017
• Fogarty funds additional grants to support research training in Ebola-affected countries
  Sep / Oct 2017 Global Health Matters
• Report: Integrating Clinical Research into Epidemic Response: The Ebola Experience
  The National Academies Press, April 12, 2017
• Fogarty protects Americans by building pandemic response capacity in Ebola-hit West Africa
  Mar / Apr 2017 Global Health Matters
• Profile: Fogarty Fellow Dr Gilberte Bastien tackles Ebola's unseen mental scars in Liberia
  Mar / Apr 2017 Global Health Matters
• Disease ‘superspreaders’ accounted for nearly two-thirds of Ebola cases, study finds
  Washington Post, February 13, 2017
• Related publication: Spatial and temporal dynamics of superspreading events in the 2014–2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic, co-authored by Fogarty Scientist
  PNAS, February 13, 2017 (online)
• Fogarty provides support to Ebola-affected countries
  Nov / Dec 2016 Global Health Matters
• Analysis of 1976 Ebola outbreak holds lessons relevant today
  Fogarty news, June 29, 2016
• Related publication: Discovery and description of Ebola Zaire Virus in 1976 and relevance to the West African epidemic during 2013-2016
  The Journal of Infectious Diseases, June 29, 2016
• History credits [Dr Peter Piot] with discovering Ebola on his own. History is wrong
  STAT, July 14, 2014
• Ebola, Zika modelers aim to inform policy decisions
  Mar / Apr 2016 Global Health Matters
• PAHO's Dr Marcos Espinal on global partnerships to fight Zika, Ebola and other diseases
  Mar / Apr 2016 Global Health Matters
• Ebola survivor study yields insights on complications of disease: Other findings may have implications for potential sexual transmission of Ebola
  NIAID/NIH news, February 23, 2016
• NIH experts offer lessons learned from the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak
  NIAID/NIH news, January 14, 2016
• Special issue on Ebola
  Clinical Trials, January 14, 2016 (online)
  
• NEI team in Liberia investigates ocular effects among Ebola survivors
  NEI News Brief, September 8, 2015
  
• Study of Ebola survivors opens in Liberia: Trial to examine long-term health effects of Ebola virus disease
  NIAID/NIH news, June 17, 2015
  
• Recorded webcast: Ebola Vaccines, Passive Immunotherapy, and Antiviral Treatment
  presented by Dr H. Clifford Lane, NIAID
  as a part of the Special Session: Ebola Virus Disease: Responding to the Challenge
  at the February 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, WA
  
• Ethics and Ebola: Public Health Planning and Response [Archive]
  Archive of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, released February 26, 2015
  
• Building the human capacity to deal with Ebola: How can we prevent future disease outbreaks?
  by Fogarty Director Dr Roger I Glass
  Nov/Dec 2014 Global Health Matters
• Lessons learned from 1976 Ebola outbreak:
  Q and A with Fogarty Scientist Emeritus Dr Joel Breman
  Nov/Dec 2014 Global Health Matters
• Ebola then and now coauthored by Fogarty Senior Scientific Adviser Emeritus Dr. Joel Breman
  New England Journal of Medicine, Online First, September 10, 2014
  

Other US Government Resources

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Ebola resources:
• CDC on Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease)
• CDC information for healthcare workers
• Past exhibit: Ebola: People + Public Health + Political Will
  at the David J. Sencer CDC Museum, June 2017 - June 2018
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID):
• USAID Ebola news and resources

Other Online Resources

• Ebola virus disease (EVD) information and resources
  from the World Health Organization (WHO)
• Ebola Resource Centre
  The Lancet
• Ebola toolbox
  from MEDBOX, the Aid Library, administered by the Medical Mission Institute, the Association for Overseas Medical Services, a non-profit advisory organization for international health, based in Würzburg, Germany
  

Updated April 29, 2022