While Zika is generally spread by mosquitoes and not by monkeys, newly published research presents a new risk for the virus. Teams at the University of Texas in Galveston and the Faculty of Medicine in Rio, Brazil found evidence that strongly suggests mosquitoes use monkeys as hosts for the virus in the Americas.
If this is true, scientists say it may make eradication of the virus next to impossible due to the presence of the natural transmission cycle.
In a natural transmission cycle, the infected animals will keep a virus or parasite alive in the wild. The animals ensure that future feeders can spread the same diseases later on.