Ebola man isolated at Indian airport

A 26-year-old Indian man who was cured of Ebola in Liberia has been placed in isolation at the New Delhi airport after traces of the virus were found in his semen, India’s Health Ministry says.

It said three blood samples from the man tested negative for the disease, which means he is considered cured according to standards set by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC advises Ebola survivors to avoid sex for three months or use condoms because the virus can continue to be found in semen for seven weeks.

The ministry said the move to isolate the man was taken “as a matter of abundant caution”.

It said he would continue to be held under isolation at a special health facility at the airport until his body fluids test negative.

It was not immediately clear why authorities tested the man’s semen. The ministry said the man carried a certificate from the Liberian government saying he had successfully undergone Ebola treatment and had been declared free of any symptoms.

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in the west African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.