Transmission of Ebstein Bar Virus (EBV), the virus that
causes infectious mononucleosis, occurs less than 10% of the time when a
susceptible individual comes into close contact with an EBV shedder. As such,
we can safely presume that infectious mono is not a highly contagious disease. EBV
can be shed in salivary secretions from patients with infectious mono over many
weeks. The median duration of virus shedding is 32 weeks after diagnosis, however,
a number of studies have demonstrated that the EBV shedding could continue for
decades.