NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has quarantined a man who was cured of Ebola in Liberia but continued to show traces of the virus in samples of his semen after arriving in the country, the Indian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement that the Indian national tested negative for Ebola in tests conforming to World Heath Organization guidelines but was quarantined when he arrived at New Delhi airport as a precautionary measure. Later, tests of his semen detected traces of the virus.
“It is a known fact that during convalescence from Ebola Virus Disease, persons continue to shed virus in bodily fluids for variable periods. However, presence of (the) virus in his semen samples may have the possibility of transmitting the disease through sexual route up to 90 days from time of clinical cure.”
(Reporting by John Chalmers; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)