The man from Liberia, who has been quarantined in New Delhi, carried a certificate of medical clearance from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Government of Liberia, mentioning that ‘he has successfully undergone care and treatment related to Ebola Virus Disease and after post-treatment assessment he has been declared free of any clinical signs and symptoms and confirmed negative by laboratory analysis.’
The Indian health officials, however, tested his blood samples at the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi between November 10-13, but found the samples negative for the virus by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
“Therefore, as per the WHO and the CDC specifications, he is deemed to be cured. However, as has been reported in the past, the virus may continue to be positive in secretions like urine and semen for a longer time. Before releasing him from quarantine, a decision was taken to test his other body fluids. His semen sample tested at National Centre for Disease Control on November 17 was found positive for Ebola Virus by RT-PCR. The tests for semen samples repeated at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, on the same day also tested positive. This was confirmed by DG, ICMR on November 18,” the Ministry said.
