ABSTRACT

Keywords: Ebola virus, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, diagnostics, viral transmission, RNA virus, reemerging pathogens, public health, WHO, CDC, biosensors, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, clinical assessment, biosafety level 4, viral culture assay, real-time PCR, recombinant protein antigens, quantum dots, gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, electrochemical detection

health concerns about Ebola have increased in recent years due to large natural outbreaks and its potential use as a bioweapon agent. Despite the capabilities of laboratory diagnostics, the initial diagnosis of Ebola infection is based on clinical assessment. Today, laboratories located in high-risk areas are still not equipped to diagnose Ebola infections; thus specimens must be sent to reference laboratories around the world for viral confirmation. This chapter reviews current diagnos tic methods and further aspects involved in the identification of the Ebola virus. The important features of each method are discussed and compared, along with an introduction to novel advanced biosensors and future technological tools for viral detection. 54.2 Etiology and Epidemiology

Filoviruses are taxonomically classified within the order Mononegavirales, a large group of enveloped viruses whose genomes are composed of a nonsegmented, negative-strand (NNS) RNA molecule [1].The unique and distinctive members of the family include the Marburg and Ebola viruses, the latter having five different sub types: Zaire, Sudan, Reston, the Ivory Coast, and Bondibugyo [2-9].The NNS RNA genomes of the Ebola virus show the gene arrangement 3¢-NP-VP35-VP40-GP-VP30-VP24-L-5¢, with a total molecular length of approximately 19 kb. The virion morphology appears either as a long, filamentous form, sometimes branched (shaped as a short U, a figure 6, or a mace) or in circular configurations [6, 10].