United Blood Services takes steps to prevent spread of Zika virus

United Blood Services Regional Director Jennifer Bredahl said even though the Zika virus hasn’t made its way to the Valley, UBS is being impacted by the virus.

United Blood Services of the Dakotas has offices in Bismarck, Fargo and Minot, N.D.; Aberdeen, Mitchell, and Rapid City S.D., and Casper and Cheyenne. She says a pint from one donor could possibly save three lives, but that it’s tough to gauge knowing many surgeries require dozens of pints of blood per patient.

“The bottom line is we have plenty of people who travel to Mexico and the Caribbean during the winter, because of our winters and on the on top of the flu and cold season we could take a hit”. Affected areas include Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes)”.

As the country is working on a plan to combat the Zika virus, a local blood provider is putting restrictions on who can donate. Although the mosquitoes known to carry the virus are not found in North Dakota, those traveling to affected areas can bring the disease back with them.

“There’s always a blood shortage is what I say”, Winchester said. The virus may be linked to a serious birth defect called microcephaly, in which babies are born with smaller than normal heads and brains.

“If somebody has traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean, South or Central America, if they’ve traveled to any of those areas in the last 28 days, we ask that they do not donate until the 29th day at least”, Bredahl said.

“There’s no test to screen the blood donors”.