India has quarantined a man who was cured in Liberia of Ebola but showed traces of the disease in his semen samples after arriving in the country.
The 26-year-old Indian national showed a certificate during mandatory screening at Delhi airport on November 10 to show he had successfully undergone treatment for the virus, according to the country's health ministry.
He was quarantined at the airport as a precaution and his blood tested negative for Ebola. But his semen was subsequently tested on Monday and was found positive for the disease, it said.
"The person concerned is a treated and cured case of Ebola Virus Disease," the ministry said.
"It is a known fact during convalescence from Ebola Virus Disease, persons continue to shed virus in body fluids for variable periods.
"However presence of virus in his semen samples may have the possibility of transmitting the disease through sexual route up to 90 days from time of clinical cure."
It is the first known case of its kind in India, which the ministry said was "under control and there is no need for any alarm".
The ministry said the man did not have any symptoms of the disease, but would be kept in isolation until his body fluids showed no trace of the virus
The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Friday that the outbreak - almost entirely confined to west Africa - has killed 5,177 people and infected about 14,500 since the outbreak erupted in Guinea in December.
The death rate in west Africa from the virus has reached around 70 per cent, the WHO said Tuesday.
(the telegraph)
