The Ebola virus disease can survive well beyond the 21-day incubation period previously thought - a timeline which was applied by many countries that imposed travel restrictions to combat the spread of the Ebola virus.
According to studies reviewed by the World Health Organization, there is
evidence that seminal fluids of convalescing men can shed the Ebola
virus for at least 82 days after onset of symptoms.
In four studies that investigated persistence of Ebola virus in
semen, three
men who had recovered from the Ebola virus disease were reported to shed
live virus in semen 40 days, 61 days and 82 days after onset of
symptoms.
Although the
scientific evidence is limited, WHO warns that it is clear that semen is a potential
source of infection and could therefore cause transmission of the virus.
Therefore, it is possible for Ebola virus to be present in semen for three
months after disease onset.
However, the WHO stated that it does not have any documented cases of the Ebola virus disease being sexually transmitted.
Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness in humans with an average fatality rate of around 50%. The
virus was originally transmitted to people in Africa from non-human
primates (such as monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees) and later spread
into the human population through human-to-human transmission.
Image Credit: CDC