Ebola traces may remain in the semen of patients who survived the disease until a year and a half after becoming sick, a longer period than originally planned, according to research released Tuesday.
The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, published today in the medical journal The Lancet, found that 9% of the 429 men who survived the Ebola that were tested had traces of the virus in their semen and 63% of them tested positive to one year after recovering from the disease.
In at least one case, investigators found traces of the virus 565 days after the patient recovered.
The research was carried out in conjunction with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of Liberia, one of the West African countries where the virus outbreak more lives claimed between 2014 and 2015 .
"This program provides important information about how long it stays Ebola in semen, which is a key to preventing outbreaks of disease and to protect survivors and their loved ones component," said CDC Director, Tom Frieden.
Health authorities and warned of the risk of new outbreaks of Ebola because of sexual transmission in March 2015, after a woman became ill and died of Ebola after having unprotected sex with a survivor of the virus once the epidemic he had already been controlled.
In this case, the survivor had transmitted the virus to his partner 199 days after the onset of the disease.
The report also indicates that the program in conjunction with local health authorities has helped raise awareness of condom use among survivors of the virus.