Can a person with only genital herpes, (not oral herpes) kiss without spreading the virus?

Herpes spreads: HSV-1 (classically considered “oral herpes”) and HSV-2 (classically considered “genital herpes”) can be spread to the opposite site and cause identical symptoms. The virus definitely sheds much more during an active outbreak; it does occasionally shed without an outbreak. If you have ever had ORAL exposure to HSV-2 and the virus is laying dormant in your facial nerves, it could spread via a kiss.

Herpes simplex: If the Herpes infection is confine to only genitalia - then kissing lip to lip should not cause it to spread. Oral - genital interactions are a different issue.