Is Japanese encephalitis Contagious?

Transmission of Japanese encephalitis from Person to Person

Japanese encephalitis is considered infectious but is not transmitted from person to person. Generally, a disease like this is caused by an infectious agent and not spread between people.
Japanese encephalitis, although infectious, is not a genetic disease. It is not caused by a defective or abnormal gene.

Transmission of Japanese encephalitis from Animals

The transmission of Japanese encephalitis can be by way of:

• blood feeding insects and can include ticks and mosquitoes.
• insects.
• mosquitoes.

Contagion summary:

Japanese encephalitis virus is NOT transmitted from person-to-person. For example, you cannot get the virus from touching or kissing a person who has the disease, or from a health care worker who has treated someone with the disease. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Japanese Encephalitis: DVBID)

Discussion about Contagion of Japanese encephalitis:

Mosquitoes become infected by feeding on domestic pigs and wild birds infected with the Japanese encephalitis virus. Infected mosquitoes then transmit the Japanese encephalitis virus to humans and animals during the feeding process. The Japanese encephalitis virus is amplified in the blood systems of domestic pigs and wild birds. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Japanese Encephalitis: DVBID)

About contagion and contagiousness:

Contagion and contagiousness refers to how easily the spread of Japanese encephalitis is possible from one person to another. Other words for contagion include "infection", "infectiousness", "transmission" or "transmissability". Contagiousness has nothing to do with genetics or inheriting diseases from parents. For an overview of contagion, see Introduction to Contagion.

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