PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi Reddit, we’re Jessie Abbate, Carmen Lia
Murall and Christian Althaus, and we developed a mathematical model
showing the sexual transmission of Ebola could prolong the epidemic in
West Africa – Ask Us Anything!
Abstract
Hi Reddit, We are Jessie Abbate, Carmen Lia Murall, and Christian
Althaus, infectious disease researchers collaborating between France
(Research Institute for Development), Switzerland (University of Bern),
and Germany (Max Planck Institute). Collectively, our work focuses on
the epidemiology, ecology, and evolution of pathogens, including human
viral infections. We recently published a study entitled “Potential
Impact of Sexual Transmission on Ebola Virus Epidemiology: Sierra Leone
as a Case Study” in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Recent
observations show that Ebola virus can remain active and transmissible
in sperm for up to 9 months, meaning patients can remain infectious
after they recover from the initial symptomatic phase of the disease. We
developed a mathematical model to study the potential impact of sexual
transmission on the size and duration of Ebola outbreaks such as the
2013-2016 epidemic in West Africa. Using the epidemiological data from
Sierra Leone as an example, we found that despite very few additional
cases, sexual transmission from survivors could extend the duration of
the epidemic substantially, allowing cases to continue popping up
throughout 2016 and highlighting the need for care providers to stay
alert for this possibility. We will be responding to questions from 1pm
EDT (10 am PDT) – Ask Us Anything! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter
@jessieabbate @cl_murall @c_althaus.