Ebola Can continue to exist In Semen For At Least 9 Months, Scientists Say

Ebola Can continue to exist In Semen For At Least 9 Months, Scientists Say

“Ebola survivors and their families continue to move
violently with the effects of the disease
.
Ebola virus can continue to exist in the
semen of male survivors of the disease for approximately 9 months after their preliminary
infection appears, much longer than earlier thought, scientists proposed on
Wednesday.
“These
results came at a dangerously significant time, reminding us that while Ebola case numbers continue to plunge, Ebola survivors and their families continue
to struggle with the effects of the disease,” said Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization (WHO) Ebola expert.

In  a groundwork results that raised questions
about how and when the West African contagion might be brought to terminus,
researchers said they did not know if the traces of virus that were discovered
were presumably still alive or potentially infectious. Meanwhile: WHO urges communities to “remain vigilant”
 He said survivors, of whom there are up to 17,000 in West Africa,
needed “continued, persisted and reasonably substantial support for the next six to 12 months to
meet these uprising and denigrating challenges and to ensure their partners are not exposed to potential
virus.” Although  it seems Liberia investigating animal link after Ebola re-emerges is still  not enough.
Ebola infected 28,000 people and killed
more than 11,300 in an outbreak centered in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
that is just proceeding under control.
Proficient
disease experts said  clearly that they
are only now able to learn more about Ebola and its potential longer-term effects
on survivors.

Jonathan Ball, a molecular virology professor at Britain’s
Nottingham University, said Wednesday’s findings were worrying.

This research work/analysis included 93 male Ebola survivors over age 18 from Freetown who
gave semen samples for testing. The men enrolled in the study two to 10 months
after their illness began.
“This ultimately
ascertain the veracity that Ebola virus
can persevere in the genital tract for a sizeable length of time, months after
the virus has disappeared from the blood, and ominously shows that this
long-lived reservoir is a potential source of new infections,” Ball said
in an emailed comment.
All  the men who were tested in the first 3 months after
getting ill were positive for Ebola virus. Some 65 percent tested four to
six months after their illness were positive, while a quarter of those tested
seven to nine months after falling ill tested positive.

Why some research work participants had cleared the fragments of Ebola virus from semen earlier than others, a vital few remains unclear,” the researchers said in a statement about their results, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It said further tests of the samples were being conducted by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “to determine if the virus
is live and potentially infectious.”
Jeremy
Farrar, an infectious diseases expert and director of Britain’s Wellcome Trust
global health charity, said the findings highlighted “just how much we
still don’t understand about the Ebola virus, infection and recovery.”
“It
also reminds us that the Ebola epidemic could be far from over,”

he said
. “With more than 17,000 Ebola survivors, it’s possible that further
cases of delayed transmission and late complications will occur.”
The WHO’s advice is that all male survivors should be tested three
months after the inception of symptoms and then monthly until they know they
have no risk of passing on the virus.
“Until
a male Ebola survivor’s semen has twice tested
negative, he should refrain from all types of sex or use condoms when engaging
in sexual activity,” the WHO said. “Hands should be washed after any
physical contact with semen.
Author: Johnson Joseph (Admin/Editor at Jaysciencetech)