n mid-October 2014, the number of cases of the West Africa Ebola virus epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia exceeded 9,000 cases. The early growth dynamics of the epidemic has been qualitatively different for each of the three countries. However, it is important to understand these disparate dynamics as trends of a single epidemic spread over regions with similar geographic and cultural aspects, with likely common parameters for transmission rates and reproduction number R0.

Several monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are being evaluated as treatment options for the current 2014 Ebola outbreak. But they were derived from and tested for protection against the older 1976 Mayinga or 1995 Kikwit Zaire Ebolaviruses (EBOV). The EBOV sequences reported for the current outbreak contain several mutations whose significance remained to be established.

In the race to develop an Ebola vaccine, a small cancer therapy company, NewLink Genetics, has been in the shadows of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a big pharma company with lots of experience and far deeper resources. But at a high-level meeting held by the World Health Organization on 23 October, it became clear that NewLink, which is based in Ames, Iowa, by next spring may have more vaccine on hand than GSK, which is based in the United Kingdom. NewLink's projections come with a major caveat: It all depends on dose.