Every year, the iconic magazine TIME name their person of the year; sometimes controversial but often a talking point, this year they've opted for a whole group rather than a single individual. 

Perhaps the biggest story of the year was the threat posed by the outbreak of Ebola, and the fallout in the countries that were hit by the disease and struggled to deal with the sheer number of those infected. 

In honour of that, TIME decided to name all the people who worked tirelessly to defeat the disease as their Person (or Persons) of the Year this year, and will release special editions of the magazine with the faces of those unsung heroes on them. 

In an article explaining the decision, editor Nancy Gibbs explained that the disease had turned from "an outbreak turned into an epidemic" and that those who worked to stop the disease spreading and to save lives "risked and persisted, sacrificed and saved", and their hard work deserved to be recognised.