--- title: Zika Virus May Spread Through Sex: WHO Says Research Needed description: A case in Texas has concerned health officials canonical: https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-03T14:49:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:43:00.388Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Says Research Needed on Sexual Transmission of Zika og:description: A case in Texas has concerned health officials og:url: https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecb6a5f1b39a01a4/69887bf35f570fb1b2b1f7bd/mosquito1.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 139289970 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Says Research Needed on Sexual Transmission of Zika twitter:description: A case in Texas has concerned health officials twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecb6a5f1b39a01a4/69887bf35f570fb1b2b1f7bd/mosquito1.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WHO Says Further Investigation Needed on Sexual Transmission of Zika by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 3, 2016 2:49 PM UTC  Aedes aegypti Aedes aegyptiJoao Paulo Burini—Flickr RF/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 3, 2016 2:49 PM UTC The World Health Organization is calling for further investigation of how Zika may be [sexually transmitted](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-who-idUSKCN0VC158). After a case in Texas appeared to have been passed through [sexual contact](http://time.com/4204578/zika-virus-sex-dallas/), WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said, “We certainly understand the concern. This needs to be further investigated to understand the conditions and how often or likely sexual transmission is, and whether or not other body fluids are implicated,” Reuters reports. The outbreak of the virus, currently spreading through the Americas via mosquitoes, prompted WHO to [declare](http://time.com/4202499/who-zika-public-health-emergency/) an international public health emergency on Monday. **Next**:[ _See All the Places Where the Zika Virus Has Spread_](http://time.com/4202539/zika-virus-where-spread-countries-map/) Zika has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, in which children are born with abnormally small heads, and WHO will soon distribute advice to pregnant women traveling in affected areas. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-who-idUSKCN0VC158)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/"},"headline":"WHO Says Further Investigation Needed on Sexual Transmission of Zika","datePublished":"2016-02-03T14:49:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:43:00.388Z","description":"A case in Texas has concerned health officials","url":"https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecb6a5f1b39a01a4/69887bf35f570fb1b2b1f7bd/mosquito1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecb6a5f1b39a01a4/69887bf35f570fb1b2b1f7bd/mosquito1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"139289970","caption":"Aedes aegypti","creditText":"Joao Paulo Burini—Flickr RF/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4205907/zika-who-sexual-transmission/","name":"WHO Says Further Investigation Needed on Sexual Transmission of Zika"}}]}] ```