Ebola transmission modes

Direct contact with body fluids (blood, semen, cum, vomit, diarrhea, sweat, saliva ...) of an infected person is the main route of human transmission.

According to the findings of the WHO as of October 2014, the most infectious fluids are currently blood, feces and vomit. The virus has also been detected in breast milk, urine and semen. Saliva and tears can also pose a risk, although scientific data are currently inconclusive according to OMS48. Conversely, the whole live virus has never been isolated in sweat and spreading the virus through coughing and sneezing is "rare or non-existent," according to current observations of the WHO, among other epidemiological data the current outbreak does not correspond to the characteristics of the transmitted airborne viruses, such as measles and chickenpox, or bacillus tuberculose48.

WHO also indicates that the virus may remain present in the semen for at least 70 days or until over 90 and that the virus is likely present in the advanced stages as saliva maladie48.

The risk of spread among hospital staff are very high, especially if the sterilization of equipment is not guaranteed. In endemic areas, lack of hygiene and security forces killed several doctors and nurses during epidemics and promote nosocomial infections.

Transmission of the virus can also be carried by close contact with the patient's relatives. Close contact means direct contact with body fluids of an infected person, whether living or dead. Funeral rites of certain peoples of Central Africa, of washing the body, then rinse hands in a common basin, often favored the spread of the virus through the family and friends of the deceased. Cases of transmission through semen have occurred up to seven weeks after clinical recovery of the patient.