Fear of Ebola's sexual transmission drives abstinence, panic

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Wed, 2015-02-25 10:04 — mike kraft

REUTERS Feb. 25, 2015

MONROVIA --Musa Pabai left an Ebola treatment centre in Liberia in November, grateful to have survived a disease that has killed nearly 10,000 people across West Africa but fearing he still could pose grave danger the person closest to him.

People await medical treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on February 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. Most hospitals and clinics have re-opened, as the Ebola epidemic wanes.
Image by: John Moore / Getty Images.

By Valentine's Day, nearly three months later, the 23-year-old had not yet returned to Hannah, his girlfriend and mother of his young son.

"I don't want to be tempted by her ... It would be a problem," he said in the capital Monrovia, where he spent his self-imposed exile, afraid that he could still infect her through sexual contact despite his clean bill of health.

Research has shown traces of Ebola in semen of some survivors for at least 82 days after the onset of symptoms and in vaginal secretions for a much shorter period.

Although there is no conclusive scientific proof these traces are infectious, 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.

With the disease typically taking 15 to 21 days to run its course, this means traces of Ebola can remain in semen for around two months after recovery.

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