Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a devastating, highly infectious illness with a high mortality rate. The disease is endemic to regions of Central and West Africa, where there is limited laboratory infrastructure and trained staff. The recent 2014 West African EVD outbreak has been unprecedented in case numbers and fatalities, and has proven that such regional outbreaks can become a potential threat to global public health, as it became the source for the subsequent transmission events in Spain and the USA. The urgent need for rapid and affordable means of detecting Ebola is crucial to control the spread of EVD and prevent devastating fatalities. Current diagnostic techniques include molecular diagnostics and other serological and antigen detection assays; which can be time-consuming, laboratory-based, often require trained personnel and specialized equipment. In this review, we discuss the various Ebola detection techniques currently in use, and highlight the potential future directions pertinent to the development and adoption of novel point-of-care diagnostic tools. Finally, a case is made for the need to develop novel microfluidic technologies and versatile rapid detection platforms for early detection of EVD.

埃博拉病毒病（EVD）是一种毁灭性的、高度传染性的疾病，死亡率很高。这种疾病在中非和西非地区流行，这些地区的实验室基础设施和训练有素的工作人员有限。最近的2014年西非埃博拉病毒病疫情在病例数和死亡人数上都是前所未有的，并证明这种区域性疫情可能对全球公共卫生构成潜在威胁，因为它成为随后西班牙和美国传播事件的源头。迫切需要快速且负担得起的埃博拉病毒检测方法，对于控制埃博拉病毒病的传播和防止毁灭性死亡至关重要。当前的诊断技术包括分子诊断和其他血清学和抗原检测分析；这可能非常耗时，基于实验室，通常需要经过培训的人员和专门设备。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了目前使用的各种埃博拉检测技术，并强调了与开发和采用新型即时诊断工具相关的潜在未来方向。最后，提出了开发新型微流体技术和多功能快速检测平台以实现埃博拉病毒病早期检测的必要性。