Scientists Discover First Case Of Ebola Transmitted Through Sex

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Scientists have discovered the first known case of Ebola transmitted through sex. It has been revealed a woman in Liberia who died from the deadly disease in March, was infected after having sex with an Ebola survivor months after he had tested negative for the virus.

According to the Mirror, in the past, scientists had believed the deadly disease could only be transmitted from one person to another through bodily fluids or by direct contact with an infected person’s blood, but now research shows that the virus can stay in semen and other bodily fluids for as long as nine months after an individual has recovered.

The Ebola survivor had taken a blood test for the virus 155 days before he had sex with the woman and had tested negative, but semen samples taken after the woman got ill showed he was still shedding the virus.

Further tests revealed they were both infected with similar virus, different from other versions of the Ebola virus noticed in Western Africa.

Reacting to the incident, Armand Sprecher, of Doctors Without Borders, stated that “sexual transmission remains a rare event,” that if it was a regular occurrence there would be many more cases.