Zika continues to affect Californians as another 19 people have tested positive for the virus, though none of them contracted it locally, state health officials announced Friday. Screening will initially extend to states along the Gulf Coast and a few others.
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“There is still much uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of Zika virus transmission”, said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement.
“At this time, the recommendation for testing the entire blood supply will help ensure that safe blood is available for all individuals who might need transfusion”, Marks added.
Blood collection sites already test donations for HIV, hepatitis, West Nile virus and other blood-borne viruses. However, this week cases of locally transmitted Zika were reported in Pinellas and Palm Beach counties.
While Zika is primarily spread through mosquito bites, there have been reports in Brazil of Zika transmission through transfusion.
Zika is mainly spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms can include fever, joint pain, rash and red, irritated eyes.
United Nations health officials say they have not confirmed any laboratory cases of the Zika virus in athletes or anyone else associated with the Olympics, which concluded Sunday. By this February, the World Health Organization had declared that Zika was a public health emergency, mainly affecting Latin America and the Caribbean.
There have been almost 2,500 cases of Zika in the US linked to travel to outbreak areas.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises couples to use condoms for two months after a partner without symptoms has returned from a Zika outbreak area, if the woman is of child-bearing age.
The virus is particularly unsafe to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.
Last month, the FDA told blood centres in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to immediately stop collecting donations until they could begin screening each unit of blood for Zika. So far, there have been about 40 cases of homegrown Zika in Florida. Health officials, however, don’t expect widespread outbreaks to occur in the U.S.
OneBlood, a part of America’s Blood Centers network whose coverage area includes most of Florida and smaller parts of Alabama, Georgia and SC, has been testing all collections for close to a month as part of the Roche trial, said Dr. Rita Reik, chief medical officer.
USA officials said they don’t expect to see a Zika epidemic in the United States similar to those in Latin America.
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Friday’s advisory means all USA states and territories will need to begin testing blood donations for Zika. These states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Texas.
