International Congress on Targeting Ebola 28–29 May 2015, Pasteur Institute, Paris

Abstract

The International Congress on Targeting Ebola 2015 was held on 28–29 May 2015 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris ( www.targeting-ebola.com). The meeting was organised in partnership with the COPED of the French Academy of Sciences, the French Task Force Group for Ebola, the Pasteur Institute and the Task Force for Infectious Diseases. Publication of a summary of the meeting by the organisers is anticipated in an open-access journal. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the main discussion points during the meeting. This meeting brought together more than 300 experts in the field of ebola virus disease (EVD) from Europe, Africa, Asia and the US to discuss advances in combatting the virus. Their expertise encompassed infectious diseases, basic science, epidemiology, anthropology, virology, immunology, and included representatives from industry (both diagnostics and therapeutics), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), funding agencies such as the Gates Foundation and Fondation Merieux, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting aimed to cover diverse topics including viral pathogenesis, virus–host interactions, epidemiology, cultural aspects of the disease, diagnostic tools, treatment protocols, vaccines and operational research.