You should read the book “Hot Spot” by Richard Patterson. It goes into a lot of detail about how the ebola virus was discovered and how they work to come up with the “code” to how it destroys cells. It is a fascinating read.
The genetic splicing that goes into the “cure” is complex and interesting. I think they work on this stuff all of the time—they just don’t spend a ton of resources on it because the outbreaks are usually small and therefore, there is no capitalist motivation to fix them.
My guess, and it is only a guess, is that the people working on this “cure” were doing it because the Ebola is just about the hardest virus to crack—if you beat that, the rest are “easy.” Think of code breakers spending their time working on a new way to break the most complex code.
Also, I think it naive to believe that the Army would not be working on a vaccine in their labs as even the simplest defensive measure.
I think its called Hot Zone...