New York, Dec 17 (IANS): Men who have recovered from Ebola must wait for unprotected sex for at least three months, researchers have suggested.

"Our exercise demonstrated that the current recommendations to prevent the sexual spread of Ebola are based on one mere observation," the researchers wrote.

"Despite the evident need to conduct more research, for now, healthcare professionals should strongly recommend sexual abstinence or condom-protected sex for at least three months," they added.

Walter Cardona-Maya, Paula Velilla Hernandez and Daniel Henao studied research from 1977 to 2007 on men in the convalescent phase of the Ebola virus (symptoms were fading and they were in recovery).

They found only four studies that report male survivors of Ebola donated convalescent semen.

For these men, the virus persisted in their semen for an average of 66.6 days, and in one case, it persisted for 91 days.

"The current Ebola virus disease outbreak is the longest and largest we have ever seen. Nonetheless, our results clearly demonstrate how much we ignore about it. Larger studies are needed to establish the social, clinical and biological determinants of this neglected disease," they noted.

The study was published in the journal Reproductive Sciences.