The problem with all the epidemiological response protocols to Ebola is that so many are based on laboratory tests and not clinical symptoms (which are admittedly complex since they can mimic other more common African hemorrhagic diseases like hantavirus).

Normally, that's a highly accurate way to diagnose confirmed cases, but in this instance, these same lab tests were highly misleading, since the genome of the Ebola virus responsible for this outbreak had shifted so much that it can not be detected by some of the lab assays used by regional labs. This discrepancy may have even prolonged the outbreak.