Interim advice on the sexual transmission of the Ebola virus disease

Overview

Transmission of the Ebola virus from male to female following exposure to infected semen of survivor has been reported in one event and has been suspected in several others. The exact mode of infection (contact, sexual transmission) has not yet been elucidated. In support of the view that Ebola virus can be transmitted via semen, a single instance of heterosexual transmission of the related Marburg filovirus, from a male survivor to a female partner, was reported during an outbreak in 1967. Less probable, but theoretically possible, is female to male transmission.