http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/asia/india-ebola-survivor-quarantine-delhi-airport.html 2014-11-18 20:04:54 Indian Ebola Survivor Is Under Quarantine at Delhi Airport The man was successfully treated in Liberia, and blood tests after he flew home were negative, but signs of the virus were found lingering in his semen. === NEW DELHI — A 26-year-old Indian man who recovered from When he arrived at the airport on Nov. 10, the man volunteered that he had been successfully treated for Ebola in a Liberian hospital and had been released on Sept. 30. Though tests of three blood samples came up negative, Indian officials opted to hold him because the virus can linger in other bodily fluids, like semen or urine, for as long as three months, according to a government statement carried by the Press Trust of India. Two samples of the man’s semen tested positive for the virus on Monday. The statement urged calm, reiterating that “the person concerned is a treated and cured case of Ebola virus disease.” Nevertheless, it said, the patient will remain in quarantine until all of his bodily fluids test negative for the virus. “All necessary precautions are being taken at the isolation facility,” the statement said. “This would rule out even the remote possibility of spread of this disease by the sexual route.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States have said that the virus has been detected in semen “for up to three months,” and recommends that men abstain from sex for that period. For months, Indian officials have been preparing for cases here, mainly by installing screening systems at international airports and preparing quarantine sites in major cities in case people with the virus enter the country. An estimated 45,000 Indians work as health care professionals in West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is concentrated. Passengers arriving from countries affected by Ebola are directed to an airport health center, where they are given medical examinations that include a review of travel history and a test of body temperature. By mid-October, around 22,000 people had been screened and 485 people had been quarantined in Delhi, health ministry officials Experts have expressed alarm at the prospect of the virus spreading in Dr. Peter Piot, the microbiologist “It is particularly important to be vigilant and monitor people closely, and make sure the public are aware of the risks,” Dr. Piot said, Health officials in India were careful to draw the distinction between a confirmed case of Ebola and the man under quarantine, whom the Liberian government certified as cured. “No cases of relapse of Ebola have been documented,” the health ministry said in its statement.