Introduction:

The Ebola virus, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a highly contagious disease with mortality rates that range between 50% and 90%. There are promising treatment options that are currently under evaluation and compassionate use.

Objectives:

To review the best published medical material and analyze the behavior of Ebola virus outbreaks, clinical manifestations, complications, the most significant elements for diagnosis and new therapeutic options available, in order to learn and apply these experiences during new outbreaks.

Materials and methods:

A systematic search was carried out in the PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, Redalyc, Ovid, Medline, DynaMed and ClinicalKey databases during the 2009-2017 period in the international, regional and local context.

Results:

The systematic review yielded a total of 51 430 documents, of which 772 were eligible; of these, 722 were not relevant, and only 50 were included.

Conclusion:

Ebola virus disease, despite its high mortality, can be prevented, diagnosed promptly and treated effectively, which allows evaluating its epidemiological impact in endemic areas and worldwide. There are potential therapeutic tools under experimentation with promising results.

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