EBOLA VIRUS: Breast Milk May Have Helped It Spread

The Ebola virus was transmitted by semen and breast milk during the latter stages of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, a new study shows.

Researchers from the United Kingdom identified several instances of unconventional transmission of the deadly disease, including a mother who may have passed it to her baby through breast-feeding. In another instance, an Ebola survivor sexually transmitted the virus a month after being released from quarantine.

Close contact with an infected individual is still by far the most common way for Ebola to spread, but this study supports previous research suggesting that the virus can persist in bodily fluids for a long time after recovery.

These unusual modes of transmission may have contributed to isolated flare-ups of infections towards the end of the epidemic.

The recent West African outbreak of Ebola, the largest in history, killed more than 11,000 people and infected more than 28,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases were concentrated in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The study does not suggest that unconventional transmission of Ebola was more common than previously believed.

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