In February 2017 we updated you on new advice from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) Ebola Working group. The Ebola Working Group recommended that male and female fertility patients and gamete donors should defer from treatment or donation for two years after returning from an affected area. These recommendations have now been revised.
The new recommendations from the Ebola Working Group are:
- Lifetime deferral for Ebola virus survivors should remain in place
- Sperm donors and male fertility patients should defer from treatment or donation for two years after leaving an area affected at the time by an Ebola outbreak
- Egg donors and female fertility patients should defer from treatment or donation for six months after leaving an area affected at the time by an Ebola outbreak
ACDP also suggest that if clinics have any concerns about a donor or a patient undergoing fertility treatment and the risk from Ebola virus disease, they should seek advice from the Rare Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) within Public Health England where testing for the presence of virus may be offered.
Further information from the ACDP can be found in the letter attached.
The HFEA is currently working with the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) to review these recommendations. In the meantime, we advise clinics to consider these recommendations when assessing the travel history of patients or donors.
Zika virus update
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a special notice regarding a potentially increased risk to blood and tissue safety in Florida, which could have implications for men who have donated sperm in Florida, or who have travelled to this area and either donated or had sperm frozen after they returned the UK.
Full details of the special notice can be found here.
Our most recent update regarding Zika virus and fertility treatment can be found here.