Ebola viruses (EBOV) cause severe disease symptoms in humans and in non-human primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever. Although EBOV outbreaks have not occurred in the U.S., the virus is of public health concern as a potential bioterrorism organism for which no vaccine or anti-viral is available. Fast-acting and prophylactic therapeutics are needed to reduce mortality due to outbreaks in other countries and for use in the U.S. if the virus is used in a bioterrorism attack. In view of the paucity of current antiviral therapies and diagnostic systems for EBOV, we provide an alternative solution by selection of high affinity 2’FY-stabilized RNA aptamers that bind the EBOV surface exposed glycoprotein, GP1 and soluble glycoprotein (sGP). Aptamers are single stranded short nucleic acid oligonucleotides with sequences that enable high affinity and specificity for their targets. Aptamers have comparable affinity with antibodies, but they are not immunogenic and are raised by in-vitro methods. They can be selected to bind to a precise region of a protein. By this means, an aptamer binding the EBOV surface GP1 would prevent the interaction between the virus and the host cell, disrupt the viral life cycle and an aptamer against sGP can be integrated with a detection platform that can be used as a biosensor to detect Ebola infections.