FDA Calls For Zika Testing Of All Blood Donations
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(CBSDFW.COM) - The Food and Drug Administration wants all U.S. blood centers to start screening for Zika.
The FDA ordered 11 states -- including Texas -- to start screening in the next month.
"They are either adjacent to areas where there's local transmission of Zika," said Peter Marks, Director, FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
The rest of the country has three months to begin screening.
Thus far, the FDA said only one donation tested positive for the virus in Florida and others are under investigation.
The Zika virus causes only a mild illness in most people, but scientists have confirmed that infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects.
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