Sexual transmission involved in tail end of Ebola epidemic

Some of the final cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone were transmitted via unconventional routes, such as semen and breastmilk, according to the largest analysis to date of the tail-end of the epidemic.

An international team of researchers has produced a detailed picture of the latter stages of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, using real-time sequencing of Ebola virus genomes carried out in a temporary laboratory in the country.

While the study did not suggest that unconventional transmission was more common than previously thought, the authors describe several instances including a mother who may have transmitted Ebola to her baby via breastfeeding, and an Ebola survivor who passed on the virus sexually a month after being released from quarantine. [More details of cases in the notes to editors].

publish - 18 May 2016

full article : http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2016/WTP060347.htm