Effective immediately, all blood collections throughout OneBlood’s Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina service areas will be tested for the Zika virus using an investigational donor screening test.
OneBlood operations remain business as usual, and collections will continue throughout its service areas, uninterrupted.
The move follows the FDA requesting blood donations in Miami-Dade and Broward counties be tested for the Zika virus. The guidance was issued in light of the Florida Department of Health investigating four possible non-travel related cases of the Zika virus.
Upon learning of FDA’s recommendations, OneBlood moved swiftly to implement testing in the two South Florida counties, and decided to implement system-wide testing of all blood donations collected throughout its entire service area.
If testing reveals a unit of blood is reactive for the Zika virus, OneBlood will quarantine the unit, notify the donor and alert the Florida Department of Health, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: OneBlood begins Zika virus testing