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11/21/2024 11:28:08 pm

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No Sex Temporarily For Liberians Who Survived Ebola

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(Photo : Reuters) Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia August 17, 2014.

The Liberian government has urged Liberians who survived Ebola to temporarily stop having sex because of the diagnosis of a new Ebola infection that could possibly have been transmitted through sex.

The victim, a 44-year-old woman, not only acquired the fatal virus but died on Friday. Although the woman was in contact with 211 people whom the Health Department are monitoring, no one has so far any symptoms of Ebola.

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Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said, "New information indicates that sexual transmission may have occurred, but remains unproven," quotes NBC. The health official adds, "Additional tests are being undertaken to investigate this possibility."

Study shows that traces of the Ebola virus were found in the semen of some survivors for at least 82 days after the symptom's onset. However, it is not a conclusive scientific proof that those traces are infectious.

Liberia cited the World Health Organization recommendation that for at least 90 days, Ebola survivors refrain from sex after recovery. For those who could not abstain, the advice is to practice safe sex.

Nyenswah added that Ebola survivors should take into consideration the proper and consistent use of condoms for all types of sexual acts even three months after the abstinence period until more information from WHO is available.

Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea jointly had more than 10,300 deaths due to the Ebola virus. Liberia was on the verge of having the Ebola outbreak under control and logging 42 days without new case for the country to be declared Ebola-free when the new case cropped.

Meanwhile, VOA News reported that Sierra Leone just ended its three-day Ebola lockdown. Because of the negative connotation of lockdown, many officials instead called it a Zero Ebola Campaign wherein people stayed at home from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., while volunteers went around on a door-to-door campaign to educate residents about the deadly virus.


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