By By Marcus Hondro Dec 1, 2014 in World Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia continue to count the dead from the Ebola virus, the number now close to 7,000, the majority from those countries, as a new caution about the illness is given by the World Health Organization. It concerns Ebola and sperm. Warning on Ebola virus in sperm WHO released a statement today warning men that their sperm could remain infectious for the Ebola virus for as long as three months after they had otherwise been considered free of it. They could then infect another person by having sex with them, though that cannot be certain. In testing of 43 men who survived "Men who have recovered from Ebola virus disease should be aware that seminal fluid may be infectious for as long as three months after onset of symptoms," the "Because of the potential to transmit the virus sexually during this time, they should maintain good personal hygiene after masturbation, and either abstain from sex (including oral sex) for three months after onset of symptoms, or use condoms if abstinence is not possible." Ebola virus death toll rises While they caution that the virus could be live in the sperm up to 3 months, they say that there there is no known case of the Ebola virus being spread through sperm, and that they cannot even be certain such a transmission would occur. In total 6,298 have died from the illness out of more than 16,000 who have Just two days ago WHO issued numbers that showed 1,000 fewer deaths than those they now show, that is attributed to adding deaths that previously were not accounted for and not a sudden spike in deaths. WHO cautions that there may be more deaths from Ebola that have not been recorded as such. Two groups of scientists are working on vaccines for the illness and at least one is close. Tests on 20 volunteers for one of the vaccines show an immune response that suggests the vaccine will work. And devices that produce an accurate test results for the disease in 15 minutes may soon be ready for distribution. WHO released a statement today warning men that their sperm could remain infectious for the Ebola virus for as long as three months after they had otherwise been considered free of it. They could then infect another person by having sex with them, though that cannot be certain.In testing of 43 men who survived the illness , the semen of three of the men was found to have traces of the live virus after a lengthy period, one after 40 days, another after 61 days and one still had traces of the live Ebola virus in his sperm after 82 days."Men who have recovered from Ebola virus disease should be aware that seminal fluid may be infectious for as long as three months after onset of symptoms," the WHO statement said today."Because of the potential to transmit the virus sexually during this time, they should maintain good personal hygiene after masturbation, and either abstain from sex (including oral sex) for three months after onset of symptoms, or use condoms if abstinence is not possible."While they caution that the virus could be live in the sperm up to 3 months, they say that there there is no known case of the Ebola virus being spread through sperm, and that they cannot even be certain such a transmission would occur.In total 6,298 have died from the illness out of more than 16,000 who have contacted the disease. Only about two dozen of those deaths have occurred outside of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.Just two days ago WHO issued numbers that showed 1,000 fewer deaths than those they now show, that is attributed to adding deaths that previously were not accounted for and not a sudden spike in deaths. WHO cautions that there may be more deaths from Ebola that have not been recorded as such.Two groups of scientists are working on vaccines for the illness and at least one is close. Tests on 20 volunteers for one of the vaccines show an immune response that suggests the vaccine will work. And devices that produce an accurate test results for the disease in 15 minutes may soon be ready for distribution. More about Ebola virus, ebola and sperm, ebola stays in sperm 3 months More news from Show all 10 Ebola virus ebola and sperm ebola stays in sperm...