Zika Virus Can Live in Eyes Causing Spread of the Virus

According to the Science Daily, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the Zika virus can survive in human eyes and have identified genetic material from the virus in tears. The researchers study the effect of the Zika virus infections in the eyes of mouse fetuses, newborns, and adults. This helps explain why patients affected by the Zika virus might be at risk of developing an eye disease which could lead to permanent vision loss.

To determine the how the Zika virus causes infections on the eye, Washington University scientists infected adult mice under the skin and found the virus live in the eyes after seven days. The virus was not discovered in the eyes of baby mice immediately, but eight days after they were born from their infected mothers. But after infecting the mice, “they found evidence of the Zika virus once they were born,” said Rajendra Apte, an ophthalmology professor and retina specialist from the university.

Researchers also hypothesize bodily fluids, including tears, are one possibility for how an elderly Utah man recently may have spread the virus to his son. According to the Washington Post, the man traveled abroad and contracted the virus though it is not determined how the son contracted it.

According to the Science Daily, the Zika virus can cause mild disease in adults that are infected but for infants, they are at risk of microcephaly (which causes the child to grow an abnormal small head), brain damage, and death during pregnancy. About a third of all babies infected during pregnancy with Zika show eye disease such as inflammation of the optic nerve, retinal damage, or blindness after birth.

The Zika virus was not widely studied until the recent outbreak that started in Brazil last year and has been linked to birth defects. A common form the Zika virus is primarily spread from the bite of an infected mosquito.