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 Florida has been investigating four possible cases of local
transmission in Miami-Dade County and Broward County. It is the
first U.S. state to report cases that may not be related to travel
to other countries with active outbreaks.
Zika has struck hardest in Brazil, where the outbreak was first
detected last year, and has since spread rapidly through the
Americas. The virus can cause a rare birth defect, microcephaly, in
newborns whose mothers have been infected, and is believed to be
linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults.
Zika most commonly infects people via mosquito bite. But reports of
the virus being transmitted through sex and blood transfusions has
prompted public health officials to recommend additional precautions
for sexual partners and blood banks.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday, the FDA said blood
centers in the two Florida counties should stop collecting blood
until they can test each unit or put in place technology that can
kill pathogens in the blood.
The FDA also recommended that nearby counties implement the same
measures as it moves to prevent transmission of the virus through
the blood supply.
OneBlood, Florida's biggest blood collection center, said it will
begin testing all of its collections for Zika virus, effective July
29, using an investigational screening test and that it is working
as quickly as possible to comply with the FDA's request.
The FDA has authorized the emergency use of several investigational
Zika screening tests, including products made by Hologic Inc and
Roche Holding AG.
The agency has also approved a pathogen inactivation technology made
by Cerus Corp that kills the virus in blood platelets and plasma.
The company is conducting clinical trials to show it can also kill
pathogens in red blood cells.
The United States uses roughly 12 million units of red cells, four
million plasma units and two million units of platelets a year.
Unlike oxygen-carrying red blood cells, which can be kept for 42
days in a refrigerator, or plasma, which keeps for a year if frozen,
platelets have a shelf life of just four to seven days.
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Platelets in general tend to be scarce because there are fewer
donors. It can take up to two hours to extract platelets using an
apheresis machine, said Dr. Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer
for Cerus. And because of their short shelf life hospitals typically
do not keep much surplus.
It can be hard to source them from elsewhere, too. By the time they
are flown from one place to another they may only have two days of
life left.
"All we need is a few more Zika hotspots and there will be a
shortage of platelets across the country," Benjamin said.
The FDA's action follows Florida's announcement on Wednesday that it
had identified two additional Zika cases - one more in each county -
that were not related to travel to an area where the virus is being
transmitted.
A CDC spokesman said on Wednesday that "evidence is mounting to
suggest local transmission via mosquitoes" in South Florida, noting
that the cases fit transmission patterns seen with prior
mosquito-borne outbreaks such as Chikungunya.
FDA said it will continue to monitor the situation in Florida in
cooperation with the CDC and state public health authorities and
provide updates as additional information becomes available.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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