Direct and macroscopic examinations of the
semen confirmed hematospermia. We extracted RNA using
the NucliSENS easyMAG system (bioMérieux, Marcy
l’Etoile, France) from 200 μL of blood and from 500 μL
of semen and urine; both were eluted by 50 μL of elution
buffer. We used 5 μL of RNA extracted for amplification.
We tested blood and semen RNA extracts using real-time
reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) as described using
2 primers/probe amplification sets specific for ZIKV (3).
The rRT-PCR results were positive for ZIKV in semen
and negative in blood, and confirmed by sequencing of
the genomic position 858–1138 encompassing the prM/E
protein coding regions of ZIKV. The generated sequence
(GenBank accession no. KM014700) was identical to those
previously reported at the beginning of the ZIKV outbreak
(3). Three days later, we collected a urine sample, then a
second set of blood and semen samples. Semen and urine
from this second collection were not found to contain traces
of blood by both direct and macroscopic examinations.
rRT-PCR detected ZIKV RNA in the semen and urine, but
not in the blood sample.