Isolation of infectious Zika virus from saliva and prolonged viral RNA shedding in a traveller returning from the Dominican Republic to Italy, January 2016.

We report the isolation of infectious Zika virus (ZIKV) in cell culture from the saliva of a patient who developed a febrile illness after returning from the Dominican Republic to Italy, in January 2016. The patient had prolonged shedding of viral RNA in saliva and urine, at higher load than in blood, for up to 29 days after symptom onset. Sequencing of ZIKV genome showed relatedness with strains from Latin America.
PMID: 26987769 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Euro Surveill - March 10, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Barzon L, Pacenti M, Berto A, Sinigaglia A, Franchin E, Lavezzo E, Brugnaro P, Palù G Tags: Euro Surveill Source Type: research