Laboratory support during and after the Ebola virus endgame: towards a sustained laboratory infrastructure

The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa is on the brink of entering a second phase in which the (inter) national efforts to slow down virus transmission will be engaged to end the epidemic. The response community must consider the longevity of their current laboratory support, as it is essential that diagnostic capacity in the affected countries be supported beyond the end of the epidemic. The emergency laboratory response should be used to support building structural diagnostic and outbreak surveillance capacity.