Liberia calls for sexual abstinence to cut Ebola transmission risk
(Reuters) - Liberia called on Ebola survivors on Sunday to strictly observe a period of sexual abstinence after recovering from the disease, amid fears the country's last case may have resulted from sexual transmission.
The West African nation suffered a setback in its efforts to end a year-long outbreak of the disease earlier this month when it recorded its first new case of Ebola in several weeks.
The patient, a 44-year-old woman, died on Friday. More than 10,300 people have succumbed to the disease across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the three countries hardest hit by the worst Ebola epidemic on record.
Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads Liberia's Ebola response, said health officials were monitoring 211 individuals known to have come in contact with the woman but that none had presented symptoms of the disease.
"New information indicates that sexual transmission may have occurred, but remains unproven. Additional tests are being undertaken to investigate this possibility," he told journalists.
Research has shown traces of Ebola in semen of some survivors for at least 82 days after the onset of symptoms.
There is no conclusive scientific proof these traces are infectious. But anecdotal evidence of several cases in West Africa and confirmed transmission of Marburg, another viral haemorrhagic fever, have led experts to warn of the potential risk of sexually transmitted Ebola.
(continued, somewhat worse than the usual bout of clap then?)
