Physical Wellness

Zika News Update: Virus Can Spread Via Physical Contact? Know Its Origin

By Jenia Cane | Update Date: Sep 30, 2016 10:38 AM EDT

The latest Zika news update has hinted that the virus may spread through physical contact.

According to a report, this theory came out when someone who visited a 73-year-old Zika-infected friend in July claimed that he started to experience the symptoms seven to 10 days after the exposure.

The 38-year-old man from Utah further narrated that what he only did was help a nurse change his pal's position and wiped his eyes.

As how Huffington Post put it, "There was no other contact with blood or other bodily fluids."

Previous reports and findings have pointed out that someone may only contract Zika virus through four manners.

First, if you are bitten by an infected mosquito.

Second, if you have a sexual contact with an infected person.

Third, if you receive blood from an infected person.

Fourth, the fetus inside the womb of an infected mother can be affected by Zika virus as well.

Considering this, it came as a surprise that someone who had no sexual contact with an infected person nor travelled to a Zika-affected region reportedly acquired it.

However, Dr. Sankar Swaminathan of the University of Utah School of Medicine said the virus might have been transferred via sweat or tears. This is still not conclusive, though.

"We can't conclude anything because we really just don't have firm evidence of how it was transmitted," he emphasized.

"This doesn't change any recommendations from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], or what the real risk factors are for people to get Zika: traveling to a Zika-endemic area or having sex with a person who has been in an area like that," he continued.

"We just don't want to create alarm that Zika virus is easily translated from person to person," he said. "We just don't think it is."

In the meantime, Reuters did a comprehensive narrative of Zika virus' origin.

It was revealed that its discovery can be traced back to 1947 when several scientists were researching about yellow fever in Uganda's Zika Forest. Accordingly, the virus was identified in a rhesus monkey.

From 1960s to 1980s, Zika virus reached Asia, particularly India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan.

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