90-Second Read: Contagious Hantavirus strain may stay in human sperm for six years — and turn into an STI

As health officials in various countries continued to monitor the effects of the rare Andes strain of Hantavirus, a disturbing truth about its long-term transmissibility has emerged. A peer-reviewed study found that Hantavirus can survive in human semen for up to six years and can be sexually transmitted even after a patient has fully recovered. Publishing in the journal Viruses, researchers from the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland looked at a 55-year-old man who had been infected with the Andes strain six years prior to the study. Because sperm is required to prorate, the body's immune system won't attack them.

Researchers call the testes a "safe harbor" for at least 27 infectious diseases, allowing pathogens to persist in the body and infect others years after an infected patient has recovered. As with viruses like Ebola, male Hantavirus patients are advised to change their sexual practices. The WHO said on Tuesday that more cases were expected from the cluster linked to the ship, but stressed ⁠that it was not comparable to COVID and did not pose a pandemic threat. The virus was completely gone from the man's blood, urine and or respiratory tract.

They concluded that it might still be transmittable to others for up to 71 months after infection. Indeed, a 2021 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, which resulted in 12 deaths, was later found to have originated with a man who survived the epidemic of 2014-2016 and then unknowingly spread the virus through unprotected sex. The World Health Organization recommends that Ebola survivors have their semen tested every three months and are not "cleared" for unprotected sex until they record two consecutive negative test results. Experts, including those at the disease forecasting company Airfinity, a disease recommend that survivors of the Andes strain follow suit.

And it means that a man could possibly pass the virus on to a sexual partner. Until cleared, they should "abstain from all types of sex" or "use condoms consistently and correctly." They should also wash themselves "thoroughly" with soap and water after any contact with semen, including after masturbation, according to the guidance.