Development and evaluation of a real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of Ebola virus (Zaire) during an Ebola outbreak in Guinea in 2014–2015

•A real-time RT-PCR assay for EBOV (Zaire) detection was developed and evaluated.•Assay specificity was studied using a representative sampling of viral, bacterial and human RNA/DNA.•The assay sensitivity was 5×102 copies per ml.•52 suspected for EVD patients of Donka Hospital Conakry, Guinea, tested positive and 149 tested negative. In early February 2014, an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) occurred in Guinea; cases were also recorded in other West African countries with a combined population of approximately 25 million. A rapid, sensitive and inexpensive method for detecting EBOV is needed to effectively control such outbreak. Here, we report a real-time reverse-transcription PCR assay for Z. ebolavirus detection used by the Specialized Anti-epidemic Team of the Russian Federation during the Ebola virus disease prevention mission in the Republic of Guinea. The analytical sensitivity of the assay is 5×102 viral particles per ml, and high specificity is demonstrated using representative sampling of viral, bacterial and human nucleic acids. This assay can be applied successfully for detecting the West African strains of Z. ebolavirus as well as on strains isolated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.