US acts on blood donors who visit Zika areas

Three Canadians have been infected with the Zika virus while traveling overseas, Canadian health authorities said Thursday, raising the possibility of new blood donor restrictions to prevent the disease’s spread.

The blood collection agency will decide in the next few days which travel destinations would be linked to the temporary ban.

Chief medical and scientific officer Dr. Dana Devine says the risk of Zika being transmitted through blood transfusion is low, but Canadian Blood Services doesn’t want to take any chances.

The agency already prohibits Canadians who have travelled to countries where malaria is endemic from donating blood for a period of 12 months.

The administration has suggested that a wide outbreak of the Zika virus in the United States is unlikely.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has alerted travelers to Zika-affected regions to take extra precautions and has told pregnant women to consider postponing trips to the areas.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization will convene an expert panel Monday to determine whether the “explosive” growth of the virus in the Americas makes it a public health emergency of worldwide concern (PHEIC), according to Bruce Aylward, MD, the agency’s assistant director-general for outbreak and health emergencies. However, more investigation is needed before we understand the relationship between microcephaly in babies and the Zika virus.

Health officials say one in five people who contract the virus will notice symptoms, if they are not pregnant.

What’s known so far is very limited, Aylward said, and isn’t enough to prove that Zika is causing the birth defects.

The senators noted in their letter to Frieden that they are hoping to “better understand” what the CDC is doing to “address the spread of the virus and to prepare our country… for any potential outbreak”.

About 20 countries, most in South America, are now affected by the Zika virus. Zika virus infection may go unrecognized or be misdiagnosed as dengue, chikungunya or other viral infections causing fever and rash.

“So that would lend to some biologic plausibility that it’s Zika virus responsible for the microcephaly”, said Simor, adding that women who are pregnant or plan to get pregnant should think twice about travelling to areas rife with cases of infection, unless they have no choice.

This can be done by using insect repellent; wearing clothes (preferably light-coloured) that cover as much of the body as possible; using physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows; and sleeping under mosquito nets.