A mother transmits the virus one year after being infected, worried specialists

A woman who has contracted the Ebola virus in 2014 reportedly transmitted the disease to her husband and two of her sons more than a year later, at
Liberia. The mother did not even know she had contracted the disease, reports a study on this case published this Monday in the scientific journal The Lancet .

This new case still worries the doctors who realized that the virus could persist for several months in the body. A phenomenon responsible for several resurgences in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone that would prevent a definitive end to the epidemic.

Flare-up of #Ebola infection in a case after year initial infection, infection, infection, infection, surveillance, surveillance, epidemiology, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance, surveillance [@] [pic] @ pic.twitter.com/yatZtKFF4D

– The Lancet (@TheLancet) July 23, 2018

15-year-old son dies

In November 2015, the 15-year-old Liberian son was cared for in a Monrovia hospital after symptoms of Ebola : Vomiting of blood, headache and diarrhea. He died a few days later.

His parents and three of his brothers were then placed under surveillance in a specialized center. The father and the 8-year-old son proved to be carriers of the virus. The doctors had also established that they had presented symptoms before the deceased patient.

Treated for anemia in 2014

The tests performed on the mother then showed that the milk and blood contained antibodies to fight the virus. The Liberian woman said that in July 2014, she had been sick after rubbing her brother, a health center nurse who had since died of Ebola.

The 33-year-old woman was then treated for anemia. She had a miscarriage in August 2014 and gave birth to her last son. "It is possible that the mother still had the virus or had a resurgence of the infection after pregnancy in September 2015 and then became ill in October. During this period, she was able to transmit protective antibodies to her infant and at the same time, she was able to infect her husband who subsequently infected his sons, "the authors of the study say.

They wish now see "countries confronted with the virus (…) be able to detect cases and act quickly to prevent the spread."

>> See also: Democratic Republic of the Congo: A first case of Ebola discovered in the city, risk of a "major" epidemic