Zika and Sexual Transmission: Is Zika An STD?

Stephen Redd, MD (RADM, USPHS), Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), discusses Zika and sexual transmission.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Zika can be transmitted through sexual transmission, and so we know that’s the case. We think that’s not the major way that it’s transmitted. Mosquito-borne transmission is much more common. There are not many similarities between Ebola and Zika but one place they do share [similarities] is that they can both be transmitted through the sexual route, but we don’t call Ebola a sexually transmitted disease because there are other ways that it is more likely to be transmitted.”