Finally, future outbreaks may be caused by unknown filoviruses that are refractory to current vaccines and traditional virus-directed therapeutic strategies, especially those based on antibodies. Thus, more attention has to be given to the development of broadly active intervention strategies. This can be achieved either by identifying conserved features within filoviruses that can function as antiviral targets or by targeting host factors commonly used by all filoviruses, or even a wider range of viruses. Particularly, perusing the latter strategy might avoid many of the challenges associated with the classic ‘one-bug–one-drug’ approach, including those posed by novel virus species and the limited economic viability of therapies for many viral diseases.