Compared to other mosquito-borne illnesses, such as dengue fever, Diamond said there is relatively little Zika virus in human blood for a mosquito to transmit from person to person through a bite.
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“Our study suggests that the eye could be a reservoir for Zika virus”, Michael Diamond, a professor of medicine and one of the study’s senior author, said in a statement.
The mosquito that transmits the virus is not found in the United Kingdom so risk to the wider British public is deemed to be “negligible” by health leaders.
A strain found in Latin American countries has been linked to birth defects in babies born to Zika-infected pregnant women.
In a study published Tuesday in Cell Reports, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis describe the effect of Zika virus infections in the eyes of mouse fetuses, newborns and adults. The researchers observed that viral RNA taken from inside a mouse eye 7 days after getting the virus could cause symptoms when injected into another rodent. After injecting the test subjects with Zika, the researchers learned that the virus continued to “live in the eyes for seven days”, according to the Eurekalert press release.
A new study about Zika and tears might explain why some infected patients develop eye problems.
The immune system is less active in the eye in order to avoid accidental damage to sensitive tissues responsible for vision when the body is fighting an infection.
The study said the eyes of the mice also might be used to test anti-Zika drugs.
In addition, the World Health Organization said females, who have had unprotected sex and do not wish to become pregnant due to concerns about Zika virus infection, must have ready access to emergency contraceptive services and counselling.
The Zika virus was discovered in the Zika forest in Uganda nearly 70 years ago and while it has appeared in parts of Africa and Asia in the past, it started spreading to other areas when it appeared in Brazil last year.
“More explosive than we can account for by just mosquitoes and the level of Zika virus in human blood”, he said.
According to Jonathan J. Miner, M.D., Ph.D., while the mouse tears did not harbor the live virus, it doesn’t mean that it would be the same in humans.
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Health authorities in the state are screening for the Zika virus among passengers arriving on flights from Singapore. Its transmission is believed to be confined to “reproductive fluids” and not other bodily fluids like sweat or saliva.
