--- title: Ebola Bodies Are Infectious Over a Weak After Death description: Researchers for the National Institutes of Health released a new study showing the Ebola virus may stay infectious in dead bodies for a week canonical: https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-13T16:40:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:39.573Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Bodies Are Infectious a Week After Death og:description: Researchers for the National Institutes of Health released a new study showing the Ebola virus may stay infectious in dead bodies for a week og:url: https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb27cf8f53d0cb6c3/69877f37a988ca839b6ac76e/128581294-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: 128581294 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Bodies Are Infectious a Week After Death twitter:description: Researchers for the National Institutes of Health released a new study showing the Ebola virus may stay infectious in dead bodies for a week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb27cf8f53d0cb6c3/69877f37a988ca839b6ac76e/128581294-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ebola Bodies Are Infectious a Week After Death, Study Shows > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=6ac3ff8c-2d12-4311-9df6-d51a297e4be7&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 13, 2015 4:40 PM UTC  Ebola virus. Ebola virus. Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 13, 2015 4:40 PM UTC Scientists have known for some time that the closer a person with Ebola is to death, the more infectious they are. A dead body with Ebola has been frequently referred to as a “[viral bomb](http://time.com/3429927/ebola-liberia-body-collectors/).” But what was unclear was how long bodies remained infectious. Now, researchers working for the National Institutes of Health in Hamilton, Montana [released new findings](http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/5/15-0041%5Farticle) on Thursday showing the Ebola virus may remain infectious in dead bodies for a week, and detectable for 1o weeks. In the study, the researchers infected five macaque monkeys—a species they believe can serve as models for humans—with Ebola, then eventually euthanized them. They placed the dead monkeys in a temperature- and environment-controlled chamber to simulate the climate of West Africa. Over several weeks, the researchers sampled and swabbed the tissue of their nose, mouth, blood, lung, spleen, liver and muscle. ### Life Returns to Normal After Deadly Ebola Outbreak  Boys play on the beach next to the Atlantic Ocean in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A girl collects her family's laundry after drying it on a rooftop in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Children sit outside her home in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Children celebrate a soccer goal while playing in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A boy hangs off a fishing boat next to the Atlantic Ocean in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Ebola survivor and nurse's aid Benetha Coleman comforts an infant girl with Ebola symptoms in the high-risk area of the Doctors Without Borders' Ebola Treatment Unit on Jan. 26, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Groom Clarence Murvee takes his bride Bindu Quaye by the waist while entering their wedding reception on Jan. 24, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A pile of broken chairs and desks lie in the corner of the Tubman High School gymnasium on Jan. 27, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A boy carries fried fish for sale in the West Point township on Jan. 24, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A congregation stands during a Sunday service at the Bethel World Outreach Church in the West Point township on Jan. 25, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  People await medical treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  People await treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A placard with information on identifying Ebola symptoms lies in the outpatient waiting room of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A nurse administers an injection on the first day of the Ebola vaccine study being conducted at Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, on Feb. 2, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Workers renovate a pediatric ward which had been used as an Ebola holding center at Redemption Hospital on Jan. 29, 2015 near Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A burial team member wearing personal protective equipment stands for decontamination spray at the U.S.-built cemetery for safe burials on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A Liberian Red Cross burial team prepares to test the body of a toddler for Ebola while collecting it from a home in the West Point township on Jan. 28, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Cross maker Anthony Johnny prepares fresh grave markers for the Christian section of the U.S.-built cemetery for safe burials on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Midwife Maima Johnson hands a newborn girl to mother Cecelia Mensah, 20, after delivering the child at the Star of the Sea Health Center on Jan. 29, 2015 in the West Point township of Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A grave digger works in the U.S.-built cemetery for "safe burials" on Jan. 27, 2015 in Disco Hill, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A caretaker stands in a kindergarten on Jan. 27, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A Liberian Red Cross burial team carries a body for a safe burial after collecting it from a home in the West Point township on Jan. 29, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Decontaminated stretchers and Ebola-fighting material stand aside in the Doctors Without Borders' Ebola Treatment Unit, on Jan. 26, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  Mattresses and bed frames burn as Doctors Without Borders , staff dismantle much of the Ebola Treatment Unit, on Jan. 31, 2015 in Paynesville, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images  A young girl stands outside her home in the West Point township on Jan. 31, 2015 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore－Getty Images **MORE** [TIME Person of the Year: Ebola Fighters](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters/) They concluded that infectious Ebola virus remained in the macaques’ organs for three days, and in their blood for seven days, after death. Viral RNA, which wasn’t infectious, was still detectable for 10 weeks. The new findings underline the continued need for vigilance when burying the bodies of Ebola victims, as well as safer funeral practices. In the beginning of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the spread of the virus could often be traced to funerals. Prior to massive education efforts, people living in the three affected countries often participated in intimate practices with the dead. In Liberia, for example, washing and kissing the corpse was a common custom. The research also gives scientists a better understanding of how long the virus can remain in dead animals, since an outbreak is is typically spurred from contact between an infected animal and a human. It also provides a warning for researchers in the field who may handle primate carcasses, the researchers note. _Read next:_ [_How Today’s Ebola Response Reflects the History of Colonialism in Africa_](http://time.com/3707158/ebola-colonialism-history/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/"},"headline":"Ebola Bodies Are Infectious a Week After Death, Study Shows","datePublished":"2015-02-13T16:40:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:39.573Z","description":"The virus is also detectable in corpses for up to 10 weeks","url":"https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/","keywords":["ebola","Virus","West Africa","Ebola outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb27cf8f53d0cb6c3/69877f37a988ca839b6ac76e/128581294-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb27cf8f53d0cb6c3/69877f37a988ca839b6ac76e/128581294-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"128581294","caption":"128581294","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3708994/ebola-bodies-infectious/","name":"Ebola Bodies Are Infectious a Week After Death, Study Shows"}}]}] ```