But the agency’s acting chief scientist said in a statement Friday, “As new scientific and epidemiological information regarding Zika virus has become available, it’s clear that additional precautionary measures are necessary”.
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Aedes mosquitoes carry the virus, and it can also be transmitted sexually.
Within 12 weeks, blood facilities in all states should be testing donations for Zika, the FDA says.
Donated blood is already being tested in Florida and Puerto Rico, as well as in other areas, FDA officials said Friday, and expanded testing should lower the risk of Zika spreading even further. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.
“About 80% of people who have Zika may never have symptoms”, Marks said. Symptoms can include fever, joint pain, rash and red, irritated eyes.
Because an infection could be transmitted during sex, someone who does not have symptoms might spread the virus to an individual who then donates blood, and this could lead to an “amplification” of the crisis, explained Marks. Previously, the FDA only advised screening in areas with active Zika cases, such as parts of Florida and throughout Puerto Rico. Several blood centers have started screening for the virus voluntarily, including several in Texas.
In the other 21 US cases of sexual transmission, the virus was spread by someone who at some point had symptoms.
Traveled to areas with active transmission of Zika virus during the past four weeks.
The new order comes in the wake of the first locally acquired Zika cases in the continental U.S. More than 40 people in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in Florida have been diagnosed with the virus since officials announced its appearance there earlier this month.
Both tests are considered “investigational”, meaning they’ve been scrutinized by the FDA but have not yet passed all of its usual requirements.
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There is a device that can filter plasma and platelet donations for viruses, including Zika, the FDA said.
