The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended on Friday that the nation’s entire blood supply be routinely screened for the Zika virus.
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The FDA issued its first Zika virus blood screening recommendation in February for areas with active transmission.
All donated blood should undergo tests for the Zika virus, which can cause birth defects, USA regulators said on Friday, amid a mounting outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus in the United States.
Within four weeks, blood banks in 11 southern and western states will have to start testing for zika.
Although Hawaii isn’t an area with active Zika transmission – that refers to places where the virus is being passed on to people via mosquitoes – Covin said they knew the state is at risk of becoming one. Most of the 2,517 cases found within the United States are believed to have been contracted during travel overseas.
“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.
“I can tell you we are now implementing everything necessary to make sure that blood is safe for patients who need life-saving transfusions”, Thew said. In July, Florida’s Miami-Dade County reported its own first case of a local mosquito-transmitted Zika infection.
The majority of those cases are of people who traveled to Zika outbreak areas.
A new case of travel-related Zika has been confirmed in Collier County, which brings the volume to six since statewide tracking began in late January.
“The guidelines tell us what would constitute a confirmed case of certain diseases and how to investigate and interventions that would be needed to stop the spread of the disease”, said Tanis Maxwell, Epidemiology Program Manager.
“That includes things like mosquito control, tracking the spread of the virus, accelerating new diagnostic tests and vaccines, and monitoring women and babies with the virus”.
Zika can spread through infected Aedes species mosquitoes, sexual contact, blood transfusions, laboratory exposure, or from a mother to her fetus.
The agency didn’t report where the pregnant women reside or where they had traveled.
On Thursday, the Centre for Health Protection had said the 38-year-old woman, who had returned to Hong Kong after spending two weeks in the Caribbean, had tested positive.
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Although most people infected with the virus never develop symptoms, an infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects and is associated with other adverse pregnancy outcomes, the FDA warns.
