OneBlood starts Zika testing for all supplies

MIAMI (AP) – Officials at Florida’s main supplier of blood say they’ll begin testing all blood collections for the Zika virus using an investigational donor screening test.

In a statement Thursday, OneBlood said it was working as quickly as possible to comply with an “unanticipated” request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA wants to suspend all blood donations in two South Florida counties investigating mysterious cases of Zika infection that may be the first spread by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland.

OneBlood will start testing all their collections for Zika starting Friday. According to the statement, OneBlood suspended collections earlier this week in the areas of Miami-Dade and Broward counties being investigated.

Florida health officials have said the four infections may not be linked to travel, but they haven’t confirmed how the virus spread.