自從1976 年伊波拉病毒首次被發現以來，從來沒有一次的流行能像這一回西非伊波拉病毒感染疫 情，影響如此廣泛的區域並且持續如此久的時間。目前這一波伊波拉疫情感染的患者遠超過過去二十多 次流行相加的總和；同時，它已經造成八千多人死亡，其中不乏許多第一線的醫療工作人員。疫情主要 侵犯西非的幾內亞、獅子山共和國和賴比瑞亞等三國；但臨近的馬利、塞內加爾和奈及利亞等國，甚至 美洲以及歐洲都有相關個案。本專題探討伊波拉病毒感染之傳播模式、臨床表現及診斷，同時提供近期 伊波拉疫情之流行病學調查統計結果。

Since Ebola virus was first identified in 1976, no previous Ebola outbreak affects so extended area and sustained so long as the current one which started in 2014. To date, more than 8,000 people, including numerous healthcare workers, died of Ebola virus disease and the number of cases in the current outbreak exceeds the number in all previous outbreaks combined. In addition to the initial foci, which included Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the outbreak has spread to the neighboring countries and moreover, across the ocean, to Spain, the United States, and United Kingdom. In this review we aim to discuss about the ecology, transmission, clinical manifestation and diagnosis of Ebola virus disease and at the same time providing up-to-date epidemiological data regarding this outbreak.