…Urges Male Survivors To Use Condoms, Undergo Regular Semen Tests
…Recommends 12-Month Safer-Sex Precaution Where Testing Is Unavailable
Daud Olatunji
The World Health Organisation has warned that Ebola survivors may still transmit the virus through sexual intercourse after recovering from the disease if the virus persists in their semen.
The global health agency, however, clarified that survivors who have met the required medical criteria for discharge from treatment centres are not expected to transmit the virus through sweat or saliva.
The clarification comes amid renewed public health concerns over an ongoing Ebola outbreak involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, as health authorities continue surveillance and containment efforts.
Patrick Otim, Programme Area Manager for Emergency Response at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, provided the explanation in a video addressing questions about the transmission of the deadly virus.
Otim said the Ebola virus could persist in certain parts of the body even after a patient had clinically recovered, creating a potential risk of sexual transmission.
He said, “Ebola virus after recovery and for patients with what we call a viral persistence can be transmitted through sexual intercourse.”
According to him, male survivors should receive counselling on safer-sex practices and have access to condoms after being discharged from treatment centres.
He also advised survivors to undergo regular semen testing until they obtain two consecutive negative results.
The WHO recommends that male survivors practise safer sex for 12 months if semen testing is unavailable. Where testing services exist, they should continue testing until two consecutive negative results are recorded.
Otim explained that survivors who had recovered and satisfied the conditions for discharge were not expected to spread the virus through sweat or saliva because the virus would have been cleared from their blood.
He said patients were required to test negative for Ebola in two blood tests before discharge from treatment centres.
However, he cautioned that people who were still actively ill could transmit the virus through sweat and other bodily fluids, underscoring the importance of distinguishing between active infection and recovery with possible viral persistence.
The distinction is important for public understanding of Ebola transmission, particularly in preventing misinformation and unnecessary fear or stigmatisation of survivors.
The WHO’s clarification comes days after Nigeria confirmed an imported Ebola case on October 20, 2026.
The patient was identified as a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja. She and her husband were evacuated to Switzerland on October 26.
Following the evacuation, the WHO said Nigeria had no active confirmed Ebola case. Nevertheless, health authorities continued monitoring contacts and implementing containment measures to reduce the risk of further transmission.
The development has kept public attention focused on the country’s preparedness, disease surveillance and ability to respond rapidly to possible new infections.
