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The FDA announced today that the United States will no longer test individual blood donations for the presence of the Zika virus, which it has done in the last 2 years.
test group donations for the presence of the virus "unless there is an increased risk of Zika virus transmission by mosquitoes in a specific geographical area that would trigger individual donation tests at that location".
Peter Marks, MD, PhD, who heads the FDA's Center for Evaluation and Biological Research, said the change was in response to a significant decrease in the number of Zika virus cases in the United States
The virus appeared for the first time, the unknown evolution of the epidemic and the observed serious effects of the disease indicated that individual tests were necessary to ensure the safety of the Blood supply. Now, given the significant decrease in cases of Zika virus infection in the United States and its territories, we avoid testing each individual donation to test group donations, "said Marks in a statement. Photo credit: James Gathany "width =" 505 "height =" 333 "/>
The United States has been testing individual blood donations for the Zika virus since August 2016.
Source: James Gathany
