In order to establish a rapid and accurate method for the detection of Ebola virus (EBOV), the primers used in SYBR Green I real-time RT-PCR were designed based on the EBOV NP gene sequences published in GenBank. The SYBR Green I real-time RT-PCR was established and optimized for the detection of EBOV. The EBOV RNA that was transcribed in vitro was used as a template. The sensitivity of this method was found to reach 1.0 x 10(2) copies/microL and the detection range was 10(2) - 10(10). No cross reaction with RNA samples from Marburg virus, Dengue virus, Xinjiang hemorrhagic fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Influenza virus (H1N1 and H3N2) and Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus E genomic RNA was found. The method would be useful for the detection and monitoring of EBOV in China.