Zika virus infection may prevent reinfection, collaborative Biosecurity Research Institute study finds

People infected with Zika virus may not be susceptible to Zika virus again, according to the latest research involving Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute. “The research shows that infection provides excellent protection against reinfection,” said Stephen Higgs, director of the Biosecurity Research Institute. “This means people infected during this current epidemic will likely not be susceptible again. When a large proportion of the population is protected — known as herd immunity — the risk of future epidemics may be low.” The protection against reinfection was one of several findings published in a recent Nature Medicine article. Other findings show that Zika virus is present in the blood very early during infection and remains in some tissues for a long time but is only briefly present in other tissues. The research involved Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine researchers Dana Vanlandingham, assistant professor of virology, and Yan-Jang Huang, postdoctoral fellow in diagnostic...