The agency had recommended in February that blood should no longer be collected from regions where the Zika virus is circulating, and that blood needed for transfusions be obtained from areas of the country without active transmission. 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 about the announcement. “But it’s a good idea to make sure everything is going to be safe when you get a blood transfusion”.
Procleix, the zika screening test from Hologics and a partner company, has been used by the American Red Cross to screen blood for HIV and hepatitis B and C for many years, Hologic spokeswoman Suzanne Clancy said. On Friday, spokeswoman Jennifer Read said the increase in the number of travel-associated cases in SC and the multiple locations of local transmission in Florida created heightened concerns in the general public.
Zika is spread primarily by mosquito bites, as well as sex.
No such cases have been reported in the United States. Yet two serum tests confirmed the presence of Zika antibodies in his blood. “The system worked correctly”.
Because the Zika virus has forced the deferral of hundreds of thousands of donors across the nation, Prijatel said, blood centers have asked people who have never given blood before to consider making a donation. The order followed now-confirmed reports of local Zika transmission – the first in the continental U.S.
More than a dozen new travel-related Zika cases were reported in Florida on Friday, with one of them being in Central Florida. Most of the cases within the continental USA involved individuals who contracted the virus while traveling in another country, while most of the Puerto Rico cases were locally acquired. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.
Last month, blood centers in Miami and Fort Lauderdale had to halt donations until they could begin screening each unit of blood.
Longini said he expects 395 non-travel-related Zika infections in Florida by mid-September but said only about 80 of those infections will likely lead to symptoms. Florida is the only USA state so far where infected mosquitoes are known to have transmitted the virus to people.
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There are no new non-travel-related cases on Friday, and health officials said they found one of the people originally classified as a local case of Zika had recently traveled outside of the U.S. The non-travel case count has decreased by one and the travel-related case count has increased by one, according to officials. These states include Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Texas.
