A man who recovered from Ebola in Liberia was quarantined at an Indian airport on Tuesday over fears he could still transmit the virus through sex.
The 26-year-old Indian man tested negative for the Ebola virus when health ministry officials checked his blood at the New Delhi airport, the Associated Press reported. But he is still being quarantined because traces of the virus were found in his semen, India's Health Ministry said.
"The person concerned is a treated and cured case of Ebola virus disease," the ministry said according to the AP. "All necessary precautions are being taken at the isolation facility. This would rule out even the remote possibility of spread of this disease by the sexual route."
Even if a person is declared Ebola-free, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises survivors to avoid having sex for three months because the virus can still be transmitted in fluids exchanged through intercourse.
The Wall Street Journal reported in early November that a Liberian man who died from Ebola might have contracted it after having sex with his fiancé, who survived the virus after it killed her mother, two brothers and grandmother.
Over 5,000 people have died from Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the centers of the worst outbreak of the disease in history.
Tuesday marks India's first brush with the disease. The man arrived in the country on Nov. 10 with documents confirming he received treatment for Ebola in Liberia and was cured, the Health Ministry said according to the AP.
As a precaution, officials quarantined the traveler and tested his blood three times over the course of several days. Officials decided to continue his quarantine when his seamen showed traces of Ebola.
Though India has not had any cases of the virus, concerns of Ebola spreading are especially high due to the country's billion-plus population and weak public healthcare system in some areas.
