Virus in Semen and the Risk of Sexual Transmission

Sexual contact is the primary route of human transmission for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Traditional STIs are caused by a variety of pathogens, and classic examples of STIs include chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and genital herpes. Recently, reports showing virus detection in the semen of men infected with viruses that had previously been unknown to be sexually transmitted have caught the attention of infectious disease specialists, public health officials, and the media. Two of the more prominent examples are Zika virus (ZIKV) and Ebola virus (EBOV), which have been found in symptomatically infected patients and disease survivors.1,2 . . .