Zika virus persists in the central nervous system and lymph nodes of Rhesus monkeys

Virus found in tissues weeks after clearance from blood. Zika virus can persist in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), lymph nodes and colorectal tissue of infected rhesus monkeys for weeks after the virus has been cleared from blood, urine and mucosal secretions, according to a study published online in Cell. The research was led by Dan H. Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School and was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. Investigators infected 20 rhesus monkeys with Zika virus and noted that although virus was cleared from peripheral blood within 7-10 days, they detected Zika virus in CSF for up to 42 days and in lymph nodes and colorectal biopsies for up to 72 days. Immunologic data showed that the emergence of Zika virus-specific neutralizing antibodies correlated with the rapid control...