Abstract

The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa was the largest of its kind, with more than 11 000 deaths and 28 637 cases. The epidemic mobilized a coalition of countries from US to China, European Union, and African countries. The international community was not prepared to face this unprecedented epidemic. Numbers of research groups are working to find a potent vaccine against Ebola. Ebola virus has the ability to dodge the immune system either by blocking interferon production or by glycoprotein-based immune diversion. Individuals who survived from the Ebola virus are facing different health issues after the infection. The rate of miscarriage is also high in Ebola survivors while there are variable reports of the presence of Ebola virus in semen of Ebola survivors. There are many asymptomatic Ebola patients under consideration. West African countries lack the basic healthcare system, for which the actual number of deaths by the Ebola outbreak are much more than the deaths caused by the direct viral infection. The hospitals were empty due to fear and death of nurses and doctors. Millions of children missed the vaccine against measles. Hundreds of thousands of people could not get food. The Ebola epidemic also affected the mental health of people living in endemic countries. The families affected by Ebola are facing discrimination in the society. There is a dire need to adopt United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, which stresses to prepare ourselves to face any national or global health risk.

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