Figure 1. ZIKV tissue and cell tropism.

Human studies and animal models (mice and non-human primates) have detected ZIKV in cells of the placenta including Hofbauer cells (in vitro and in explanted human placental tissue), trophoblasts (mice, non-human primates, and humans), and endothelial cells (in vitro in explanted human placental tissue and in vivo in placenta of mice). Other ZIKV cellular targets include neuronal cell types including neural progenitor cells and mature neurons (mice, non-human primates, and humans), and astrocytes (in vitro human cell cultures). In addition, ZIKV infects ocular tissues including the cornea, neurosensory retina, and optic nerve (mice), as well as the aqueous humor of the anterior chamber (humans). ZIKV also targets cells of the reproductive tract including spermatogonia, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells (in the testis of mice), sperm (samples from mice and humans), and the vaginal epithelium (mice) and uterine fibroblasts (in vitro infection of human samples). The extensive tropism results in ZIKV detection in multiple body fluids including conjunctival fluid or tears (mice and humans), saliva (non-human primates and humans), semen (mice, non-human primates, and humans), cervical mucus (humans), vaginal washings (mice and human) and urine (non-human primates and humans).