Information released by the CDC Tuesday shows Ebola virus can stay in the semen of infected men for more than a year — even as long as 565 days — after the men recover from the illness.
A report published Tuesday in Lancet Global Health details results from Liberia's Men's Health Screening Program, a national program testing semen for Ebola virus. The test can detect the virus in the semen, but can't tell if the virus is live and can spread, according to the CDC.
The tests in the study were conducted between July 2015 and May 2016. It found that 38 of 429 Ebola survivors (9 percent) had Ebola virus in their semen, and of those, 63 percent had samples positive for Ebola a year after recovering from the disease. One man had Ebola in his semen at least 565 days after his recovery.
Previously, scientists believed Ebola could subsist in semen for three months. "With this study, we now know that [the] virus may persist for a year or longer," said Moses Soka, MD, coordinator of Ebola Virus Disease Survivor Clinical Care at the Liberian Ministry of Health and director of the Men's Health Screening Program. "We now have many more Ebola survivors than ever before. This word demonstrates the importance of providing laboratory testing and behavioral counseling to empower survivors to make informed decisions to protect their intimate partners."
In addition to testing, the Men's Health Screening Program in Liberia provides education on safe sex practices and also gives free condoms to each participant every month. When men have two consecutive negative tests, they leave the program.
According to the CDC, sexual contact can help reignite Ebola outbreaks, as was the case in March 2015, when a woman in Liberia contracted Ebola and died even though Liberia had been declared Ebola-free. Researchers determined she contracted the virus from a man who had recovered from an infection but still had Ebola in his semen 199 days after he first fell ill.