FDA Asking Blood Donation Centers To Screen For Zika

In the aftermath of disasters like the Louisiana floods and tropical storm Hermine, the demand for blood is high, but a new warning from the Food and Drug Administration could add one extra delay in getting blood to where it needs to go.

The FDA is asking blood donation centers to screen for yet another blood born disease, this time it's screening for the Zika virus.

"As new... information regarding Zika virus has become available, it’s clear that additional precautionary measures are necessary," FDA acting chief scientist Dr. Luciana Borio said in a news release earlier this week.

The screening is already underway in Florida and Puerto Rico, according to the release.

“The progression of the disease is that it will eventually move westward because the mosquitoes that carry the virus are here and in Texas, so we can expect it here sometime in the future,” Oklahoma Blood Institute CEO Dr. John Armitage said.

Armitage said the screening will be done by a brand new process of tracking Zika's genetic code and can detect even the smallest amounts of the virus in donors.

“They might not even know they're symptomatic. They might not have had any consequences but we'd be able to detect it by that genetic fingerprint,” Armitage said.

As for those receiving blood donations, Armitage said they won't see a difference. The testing will be done alongside tests for diseases like West Nile virus and HIV.

The process is going to be absolutely the same, the difference is when the test tubes go back to the lab the folks who work here for us will do one more test.

Zika testing in Oklahoma is scheduled to begin in a few weeks. In the meantime, OBI officials said they'll continue to screen donors through a questionnaire about travel and lifestyle habits.