Sexually transmitted diseases affect about 19 million people in the United States every year. There are over 20 STDs to watch out for, now including Ebola.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report noting the possibility that the Ebola virus may be transmitted sexually. This report comes after a woman in Liberia has been diagnosed with the disease. After carefully scrutinizing her activities to determine where she could have been infected with the virus, it was revealed that the 44-year-old woman had unprotected sex with a male Ebola survivor five months after he was discharged from a treatment facility.

Blood and semen samples were collected from the survivor as part of the investigation on the infected woman's case and results showed that while the blood was negative for the virus, the semen specimen tested positive. A genome sequence of the viral RNA from the survivor's semen has not been completed due to low levels of detectable viral nucleic acid but a partial sequence closely matches the sequence derived from the woman.

Previously, the World Health Organization and the CDC had recommended that survivors abstain from sexual activity or at least ensure condom use for a minimum of three months after recovering from Ebola. At the same time, used condoms should be disposed properly, avoiding contact with the semen. Hands should be thoroughly washed as well with soap and water after disposal.

These same measures are recommended to help prevent the spread of STDs. While all are dangerous, some can be managed better than others. In many cases, leaving an STD untreated can worsen health. Death comes when an individual's health has become so compromised, their body ceases to function properly.

Some of the most dangerous STDs to watch out for include:

• Syphilis. Like other diseases, syphilis is curable in its early stages. Unfortunately, it shares symptoms similar to other diseases so it is not always accurately diagnosed early on. Leaving syphilis untreated leads to long-term health complications, including central nervous system and heart problems and organ damage, which causes death.
• HIV/AIDS. An HIV infection causes but doesn't always lead to AIDS. But when it does, the virus severely weakens the immune system, making it easier for other illnesses to affect the body, which eventually succumbs to the onslaught.
• Hepatitis B. Transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, a hepatitis B infection is not one of the most common STDs but it is one of the deadliest, causing severe liver problems.

Photo: Rolando Tanglao | Flickr