Most people know that they can catch the Zika virus through the bite of a mosquito. It is also pretty well known now that you can catch the disease through sexual intercourse. But, it turns out that there is yet another way you can catch this virus that involves neither of these scenarios. A recent study revealed that the Zika virus can survive for up to eight hours on hard, non-porous surfaces. It can last even longer if it is actual blood containing the virus that is on this kind of surface. The virus can now be transmitted via the environment in the right circumstances. This screams accident just waiting to happen to me.
A person can contract the virus in this circumstance by simply having an open wound come in contact with the infected blood or just the virus laying on a hard surface or if you are somehow pricked by an infected needle. While so far no cases have been found of the general public being infected in this manner, there is one case of a worker in a laboratory being infected with the Zika virus in this manner. This seems like something that people working to treat the virus in hospitals and doctor’s offices, as well as research labs need to be careful to not catch the virus in this manner.
Do you think more cases of the Zika virus being contracted in this manner will crop up?
