AFP                                                                                                           April 15, 2015

Geneva- Traces of Ebola have been found in the semen of a man six months after his recovery, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, urging survivors to practice safe sex "until further notice".

The man had been declared free of the deadly virus in Liberia last September, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told AFP.

"He has provided a semen sample which has tested... positive for Ebola, 175 days after his negative blood test," he said in an email.

The UN health agency had previously said the virus had been detected in semen around three months after a patient had been declared Ebola free.

The new finding has led WHO to recommend that survivors abstain from having sex or that they practice safe sex using a condom beyond the three-month period previously prescribed.

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http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-virus-found-semen-six-months-recovery-104351981.html;_ylt=AwrC2Q7WeS5VaEoA82fQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

ICT  INFECTION CONTROL TODAY                                                                  April 14, 2015
(Scroll down for full study)
Research from the University of Manchester using cutting-edge computer analysis reveals that despite mutating, Ebola hasn’t evolved to become deadlier since the first outbreak 40 years ago. The surprising results demonstrate that while a high number of genetic changes have been recorded in the virus, it hasn’t changed at a functional level to become more or less virulent.

The findings, published in the journal Virology, demonstrate that the much higher death toll during the current outbreak, with the figure at nearly 10,500, isn’t due to mutations/evolution making the virus more deadly or more virulent.

As professor Simon Lovell from the Faculty of Life Sciences explains.... What we found was that whilst Ebola is mutating, it isn’t evolving to the point of adapting to become more or less virulent. The function of the virus has remained the same over the past four decades which really surprised us. Unfortunately this does mean the Ebola virus that has now emerged on several occasions since the 1970s will very probably do so again.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS  by CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY    April 14, 2015

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- Children in Sierra Leone returned to schools on Tuesday after staying at home for nine months because of the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 10,000 mostly in West Africa.

More than 8,000 schools are to reopen for about 1.8 million students and the government and U.N. children's agency promise to check temperatures regularly and will promote hand washing to discourage the spread of Ebola in the schools.

"This marks a major step in the normalization of life in Sierra Leone," said Roeland Monasch, UNICEF Representative in Sierra Leone. "It is important that all children get into school including those who were out of school before the Ebola outbreak. Education for all is a key part of the recovery process for the country."

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sierra-leone-schools-open-ebola-closed-months-30302393

ALL AFRICA VANGUARD                                         April 11, 2015
FREETOWN -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that almost half of all Ebola infections in West Africa have been recorded in two districts located in the border region between Sierra Leone and Guinea. Winnie Romeril, WHO Sierra Leone Spokeswoman, said in Freetown efforts were being made to contain the disease in the two worst affected areas of Kambia , western Sierra Leone and Forecariah, eastern Guinea.

"Almost 50 per cent of all Ebola cases in West Africa are currently coming from the region between Kambia and Forecariah," she said. Romeril said the two districts were "the most active areas, adding that investigation was on going in the areas. She said the exercise became necessary because people were still dying at home, adding that there was very high likelihood of infections.

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http://allafrica.com/stories/201504131492.html