Washington(August 2, 2017): Scientists have some interesting news about Zika: You’re unlikely to get the virus from kissing or sharing utensils with someone.
A new study with monkeys suggests that Zika doesn’t appear to be transmitted through saliva.
“If passing the virus by casual contact were easy, I think we would see a lot more of what we would call secondary transmission in a place like the United States,” said lead researcher Tom Friedrich, from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mosquitoes are the main cause of Zika infection in people. After infection, the virus remains in blood and saliva for a few weeks. And it remains in bodily fluids like breast milk for weeks and semen for months, the researchers said.
Zika can be spread from person to person through sexual intercourse, but it’s been unclear whether the saliva of an infected person poses a threat to others.
But it’s important to note that studies done in animals often don’t produce similar results in humans.
been linked to catastrophic birth defects in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy.
The most common of these defects is microcephaly, where the baby’s brain is small and underdeveloped.
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