The Food and Drug Administration now recommends that all blood donations in the U.S.be screened for the Zika virus. The female patient aged 38 (blood specimen) and her asymptomatic travel collaterals and home contacts (blood and urine specimens) tested negative for Zika virus upon laboratory testing by the CHP’s Public Health Laboratory Services Branch this afternoon.
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The first local or non-travel related transmission of Zika virus in the US by mosquitoes was reported from Puerto Rico in December 2015; and soon thereafter, local transmission was reported in American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands.
It said it would report the case to the World Health Organization. The entire Gulf Coast is at high risk, however, given the prevalence there of the species of mosquito that hosts the pathogen.
The virus, which spread throughout the Americas past year, has made its way to the United States with local mosquito-borne virus transmissions reported in Miami.
Dick said the case underscored the risks of traveling to countries where the virus is especially active.
Because those symptoms are common, Okoye advises anyone presenting them who has traveled to areas where the virus is prominent, like South America, should visit their medical provider. Almost all of those in the latter group are in Puerto Rico. So far, there have been about 40 cases of homegrown Zika in Florida.
Marks said the concern is that they have been unknowingly infected and give blood.
The FDA guidance impacts testing of all donated whole blood and blood components such as plasma and platelets in the United States and territories.
Testing of blood donations is already occurring in Florida and Puerto Rico, as well as other areas where Zika has been acquired via mosquitoes.
The timeline for rolling out the blood testing nationwide is aggressive and the effort promises to be a logistically challenging one. Eleven states are asked to start testing their blood donations within the next four weeks. Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Texas.
“Testing labs and the test vendors are working feverishly to allow testing to start on time in the areas subject to the 12 week timeline”, said Dr. Louis Katz, in an email. August is winter in Rio de Janeiro, and the Zika-bearing mosquitoes are less active then.
Hong Kong is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) swept through the city in 2003, killing 299 people and infecting around 1,800. They’re also advised to practice safe sex, since the virus can be transmitted by all types of sex.
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According to NPR, none of the more than 2,000 Zika cases in the continental USA have come from tainted blood transfusions, but at least one unit of donated blood in Florida tested positive for the virus.
