How contagious are warts on hands ? i shook someone's hand who had them. and how long can the virus live outside the body?

No risk: Adults don't catch warts by shaking hands. Don't worry about it.

Who cares?: Essentially everybody has the strain of HPV that causes warts. What would life be like without shaking hands? And even if there was a small risk of catching warts from handshakes, who cares? They are easy to remove. Ethan, you can't go through life without touch. Use barrier protection for sex until you're married. But don't let concerns like this keep you from simply touch. It's basic to life.