Fearing Zika, FDA Asks Two Florida Counties to Halt Blood Donations

After travel and sexual transmissions were ruled out for four Zika cases in Florida counties of Miami-Dade and Broward, fears of infected mosquitos in the United States are mounting. Because the virus does not present symptoms in many cases, it is possible that more people are infected – and may have donated blood after being bitten. The FDA has issued a warning that blood collections in the counties should not resume until they are able to properly test the blood and screen donors; they also recommend that neighboring and other at-risk counties consider taking the same actions.

Read NPR's article on it here.

New 'Scarier' Zika Warnings in the U.S.

The CDC recently released a broader range of Zika-related complications beyond microcephaly, including stillbirth, placenta damage, prematurity, etc., as well as potential links to additional non-pregnancy conditions. In this comprehensive discussion about the existing and anticipated impact of the virus, experts explain the developing understanding of transmission, effects and prevention. Although there is evidence that the disease is not in the continental US (beyond those that traveled to infected countries), experts estimate the range of the carrier mosquito to include parts of at least 30 states – with an additional potential carrier type extending as far north as Minnesota. Combined with the difficult of containment, due to the uniqueness of the mosquito (including breeding, biting habits, etc.), experts suspect that an outbreak in the United States would be the “public health version of [Hurricane] Katrina.”

Listen to the podcast about it from On Point with Tom Ashbrook.