In light of the investigation of the potential local Zika transmission in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting that all blood establishments in Miami-Dade County and Broward County cease collecting blood immediately until the blood establishments implement testing of each individual unit of blood collected in the two counties with an available investigational donor screening test for Zika virus RNA or until the blood establishments implement the use of an approved or investigational pathogen inactivation technology.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Gross
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Gross

In the same statement from the Director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks today, the FDA is also recommending that adjacent and nearby counties implement the precautions above to help maintain the safety of the blood supply as soon as possible.

The FDA is working closely with companies that are making blood screening tests available under an Investigational New Drug application (IND) to ensure that these companies are ready to expand testing as needed.

Blood collection establishments in the rest of the United States may also choose now or in the future to participate in testing under IND, even in the absence of local mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus.

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