--- title: Ebola Outbreak: Male Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for 3 Months description: The Ebola virus can persist in semen for longer than in other body fluids canonical: https://time.com/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-28T17:06:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:26:36.440Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Outbreak: Male Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for 3 Months og:description: The Ebola virus can persist in semen for longer than in other body fluids og:url: https://time.com/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Outbreak: Male Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for 3 Months twitter:description: The Ebola virus can persist in semen for longer than in other body fluids twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Male Ebola Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for Three Months  by [Naina Bajekal](https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Nov 28, 2014 5:06 PM UTC  by [Naina Bajekal](https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Nov 28, 2014 5:06 PM UTC Men who recover from the Ebola virus should avoid having sex for three months to minimize the risk of transmitting the virus on in their semen, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday via Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/WHO/status/538302173457940482) WHO also gave a fuller [statement](http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/rtis/ebola-virus-semen/en/) on its website, saying that while the sexual transmission of Ebola has not been documented, studies have found that the live virus can remain in semen for up to 82 days after the onset of symptoms. “Because of the potential to transmit the virus sexually during this time, they should maintain good personal hygiene after masturbation, and either abstain from sex (including oral sex) for three months after onset of symptoms, or use condoms if abstinence is not possible,” according to the statement. Ebola has infected nearly 16,000 people in the current outbreak, with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia seeing the most cases. The virus normally spreads via bodily fluids such as blood and saliva. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/"},"headline":"Male Ebola Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for Three Months","datePublished":"2014-11-28T17:06:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:26:36.440Z","description":"The Ebola virus can persist in semen for longer than in blood or other body fluids","url":"https://time.com/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/","keywords":["ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"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/3609602/ebola-sex-male-survivors-three-months-transmission/","name":"Male Ebola Survivors Told to Abstain from Sex for Three Months"}}]}] ```