Ebola Virus Latest News: Virus Can Last In Semen Up To 19 Months

The dreaded Ebola virus has been found to remain present in semen much longer than what experts originally though, a study involving more than 400 men revealed. According to the study, researchers detected viral RNA 565 days after the patient has already recovered from Ebola symptoms. Researchers in the past believed that Ebola virus stays in the semen up to nine months after recovery.

According to Stat News, after finding enough data to confirm that some people in the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa were being infected through sexual intercourse, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised male survivors to be tested so that they would know their status. They were also told to abstain from sexual contact or use of condom until they have tested negative for the virus twice.

Researchers found that among the 429 participants in the study, 38 tested positive at least once for traces of Ebola in their semen. The paper published in The Lancet Global said that the 9 percent ratio is a little suspicious. Dr. Mary Choi, one of the lead authors of the article, said that the program was only made in July of 2015 which was six or seven months after the peak of Liberia's Ebola outbreak.

Choi also said that if the testing was started earlier, it would have found more men who were positive of the virus. However, the results of the tests surprised her since a lot of time has already passed. "We just figured we'd be open for a couple of months, and then we would test everybody and everyone would test negative and then we would close," said Choi, a medical epidemiologist in CDC's viral special pathogens branch.

Meanwhile, The Scientist reported that Ebola can carry on in different tissues where the immune system is less active, even if the virus is not detected in the blood stream. It is possible for the virus to be transmitted after several months of lying low, and may potentially trigger an outbreak in an area which had been cleared of Ebola.

Daniel Bausch and Ian Crozier in a commentary: "A documented case of sexual transmission in Liberia six months after acute Ebola virus disease, along with accumulating evidence of similar events, remind us that even low levels of virus can result in transmission."

The study was based on the testing done by Liberia's Men's Health Screening Program, which Bausch and Crozier think "will have broad importance and provides opportunity for strengthening health systems" as the country work toward preventing future Ebola outbreaks.