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A new study shows that some men still have semen that tests positive for fragments of Ebola virus nine months after onset of symptoms, but it is not known how many of them are infectious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting further tests of the samples to determine if the virus is alive and potentially infectious. This is not the scary part.
While it’s been known that Ebola (EVD) is generally transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person with EVD or from the body of a person who died from EVD, it was not previously known that Ebola could be transmitted months after disease. Suspicions were aroused in March, 2015, when a Liberian woman contracted Ebola; her only known exposure was through unprotected sex with a man who survived Ebola months before. Because of this case, recommendations for abstinence among survivors were extended from 3 months to 6 months, or until semen twice tested negative for Ebola virus.
As a result of these latest findings, survivors will need to be counseled on potential sexual transmission and to use a condom consistently and indefinitely, since no one knows how long the virus might persist.
Read full, original post: Ebola Persistence In Semen, Eyes, And Nervous System Portends Trouble
