Now, the FDA is strongly recommending blood centers screen all donations, not just the ones from people who travel to Zika hotspots. This includes very large blood collection establishments, such as the American Red Cross, and some very small establishments, such as academic centers, he said. Now the sample will be tested for Zika as well.
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The state health department encourages residents to drain standing water in any containers, which is the breeding source for mosquitoes; cover exposed skin with long-sleeved shirts and trousers, and to wear mosquito repellent outdoors.
The new advisory means all USA states and territories will need to begin testing blood donations for Zika.
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”. In states and territories with local, mosquito-borne transmission, the recommendations will go into effect immediately.
The timeline for rolling out the blood testing nationwide is aggressive and the effort promises to be a logistically challenging one.
Zika is mainly spread by mosquitoes, but a person can also contract the virus through unprotected sex with an infected partner.
Zika infected blood could cause a pregnant women to give birth to a child with a life-long debilitating condition.
Marks said the FDA had already reviewed data submitted by the companies and was confident these investigational tests would “perform appropriately” in this setting.
Adding to the challenge is that four out of five people infected never develop symptoms, such as fever, joint pain and rash.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, all of the cases in Virginia so far were contracted while traveling to areas where mosquitoes are known to be transmitting Zika.
The FDA order comes one month after the agency stopped all blood donations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties out of concern over the local transmission of the Zika virus. “We are encouraging people-you are now going to be eligible to donate, so please come in”, said Shaina Novotny, Blood Center of Central Texas.
“There’s a sheet that lists all the areas where Zika has been prevalent, transmitted by mosquitoes and those areas are off-limits for donating blood, if you have been there in the last 28 days”, Lambert said.
America’s Blood Centers, a network of 63 blood centers with 600 donation sites in 45 US states, is now testing for Zika primarily in Florida, where local transmission has been reported.
A Maryland man who was exhibiting no symptoms of Zika has given the virus to his female sex partner – the first such case in the US, officials said Friday.
Despite calling them “nonbinding recommendations”, an FDA spokesperson told 9NEWS these are actually requirements.
“We’re living it, breathing it, preaching the protection part of it every day”, she said.
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Friday morning, the FDA advised all blood banks to start screening donations. He said the test’s accuracy meets the expectations set out by the FDA.
