When the Zika computer virus first burst onto the scene in South America , pregnant mothers were find to be most at jeopardy from getting the disease through mosquito bites . But as the epidemic evolved , further research uncovered that the computer virus is not only pass around by the worm , butalso sexually .
Now , search suggeststhat the virus may also bear on infect military man and could potentially lead to sterility and even testicular withering , or shrinkage . Transmission via mosquito is still intend to be the main way in which the virus spreads , but the fact that the computer virus can persist in the semen of infected men forat least six monthsafter infection is particularly worrying for healthcare professional and public health brass trying to contain the disease .
The new sketch , published inScience Advances , looked at the impact of the computer virus over a menstruum of clip in the testis of male black eye , and confirmed whatother researchers have get . While it was screw that the computer virus could persist in the semen of men months after the contagion had been cleared from the parentage , it was unclear how it pretend the ball . It turns out that after 21 days from when the mouse were first infected , the virus continued to repeat in their testicular cells .
They found that the virus specifically persisted in a part of the testes live as the epididymis , which is responsible for moving the sperm from the nut to the urethra . This fit in with what was antecedently known about how the computer virus is sexually transmitted from Male to female . But in addition to this , they also distinguish that after 21 years , the size of the ball of septic mouse were importantly smaller , having undergone testicular atrophy . This is most likely give birth further shock on the fertility of the males .
While the initial external hand brake of Zika hasbeen declared over , that does not mean that the virus has simply move away . In fact , the pathogen that can cause neurodevelopmental problem in youngster is more than probable here to outride , for the time being at least . To that end , researchers have been hastily working over the last few age to identify , test , and manufacture a vaccinum and cure , with some gains .
How the virus persists in the environment is critical for how public health organization deal with the disease and contain it . The fact that it may be able to lodge in in the testicles of men for months after transmission , and even cause infertility , is vital knowledge in the fight against Zika .
