People who have herpes 2 can spread the virus to their sexual partner even if they do not have a clinical outbreak. Most cases of genital herpes are acquired from people without a clinical history of genital herpes! Transmission likely correlates with the activity of viral shedding from the skin or mucosal surface where it resides. Studies on patients who were seropositive for herpes 2 self-collected swabs from genital secretions for 30 consequetive days and showed that viral shedding occurred in the absence of lesions.
