On Friday, The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that a 44-year-old woman contracted Ebola after having unprotected sex with an Ebola survivor.

The 44-year-old woman from Liberian capital Monrovia caught the lethal virus from a 46-year-old male, who had been cured of the virus for more than six months now.

The woman developed headache, weakness, joint pain and nausea on March 14 after having unprotected vaginal sex on March 7. She was admitted to hospital on March 17 and was officially diagnosed with the virus on March 20.

The transmission of the virus in this latest case refutes the earlier claims of health experts that the Ebola virus could remain in semen for about three months from the time of infection. The present case of Ebola contraction clarifies that the virus can survive even in the semen for up to 200 days.

The deadly Ebola can be passed on from one person to another through direct contact with the patient's blood or other bodily fluids such as urine, saliva, semen, and sweat.

CDC has raised an alarm, urging male Ebola survivors to avoid unprotected sex for an indefinite period of time. CDC has advised, “If male survivors have sex; oral, vaginal, or anal, a condom should be used correctly and consistently every time until further information is known. Used condoms should be handled and disposed of safely to avoid contact with semen”.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 26,298 people have been infected with Ebola in the West African outbreak, and 10,892 have died, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Though the health officials cannot confirm that the disease was passed on through sex, but the recent case raises fears of eradicating this virus in countries where contraceptive use is scarce.