Last December, a viral infection set off the first-known outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. As of August 22, nine months later, 2,473 people have taken ill — 1,350 have died. It’s far and away the biggest epidemic ever of this horrific, hemorrhage-causing disease. And still there is no cure. But a number of therapies appear near. All are still experimental, meaning that until this outbreak, they’ve never been tried on people. But scientists see hope that at least some of these drugs and vaccines might soon be mobilized, bringing the current outbreak to an end.