LONDON (AP) – A Liberian woman who probably caught Ebola in 2014 may have infected three relatives a year after she first fell sick, doctors reported in a study published Monday.
There have been previous instances of men spreading Ebola to women via sexual transmission – the virus can survive in semen for more than a year – but the new case is the first time scientists have suggested that Ebola was spread from a woman after such a prolonged period.
The rare possibility of Ebola spreading long after infection highlights the importance of monitoring survivors, especially with the imminent end of the most recent flare-up of the disease in Congo. That country’s latest outbreak, announced in May, has so far recorded 38 confirmed cases, including 14 deaths. It is due to be declared contained on Wednesday, which will mark 42 days, or two incubation periods, since the last case was recorded.
“The Ebola virus hides in places where it can escape the antibodies from a body’s immune system, so there is a need for vigilance,” said Dr. David Heymann, a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not linked to the new research.
The unusual cluster of cases in Liberia was identified after the woman’s 15-year-old son was diagnosed with Ebola in November 2015. Scientists then tested the rest of his family: the woman, her husband and their three younger sons.