FDA asks Miami-Dade, Broward County blood banks to stop collecting blood

Request comes after reports of possible non-travel-related Zika cases

MIAMI – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked all blood banks in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to stop collecting blood because of increasing fears of spreading the Zika virus.

The request comes after the Florida Department of Health announced that it is conducting an epidemiological investigation into at least two non-travel-related cases of the Zika virus in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

While health officials are still questioning relatives and people who were in close contact with the patients infected with the virus, it's possible that the cases are the first local Zika virus transmission by mosquitoes in the continental U.S., officials said.

South Florida gynecologists said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising all OBGYN's to screen their patients for Zika exposure and discuss the risks and how to prevent it.

"The greatest risk for exposure is in the first trimester," Dr. Nigel Spier said. "We have learned that. (We) still are not entirely sure how those risks translate if the exposure occurs in the second or third trimester.

According to the CDC, the Zika virus typically causes a mild rash, fever and joint pain. Only one in five people infected with the virus are symptomatic, but the virus can cause serious problems for pregnant women whose babies are often born with microcephaly.

Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development. 

Health officials said microcephaly is usually the result of the brain developing abnormally in the womb or not growing as it should after birth.

Babies born with the defect often have a range of problems, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, problems with movement and balance, hearing loss and vision problems.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no treatment for microcephaly, but speech and occupational therapies might help enhance a child's development.

The Health Department is giving out Zika prevention kits to doctors to give their pregnant patients.

The FDA also recommended that adjacent and nearby counties implement the blood ban as a precaution to "maintain the safety of the blood supply."

OneBlood, which provides blood to hospitals across the state, and in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, said it will begin testing all of its blood collections for the Zika virus beginning Friday.

"OneBlood is working as quickly as possible to comply with the FDA's request," the company said in a statement Thursday. "Safety of the blood supply is OneBlood's top priority.  Earlier this week OneBlood, in cooperation with the Florida Department of Health, suspended collections in a number of areas in South Florida where the suspected non-travel related cases are being investigated."

There are currently 383 people in Florida who have contracted the Zika virus, 55 of whom are pregnant women.

Below is a list of the number of Zika virus patients in each affected county who are not pregnant.

*Alachua County - 5 cases

*Brevard County - 6 cases

*Broward County - 55 cases

*Charlotte County - 1 case

*Citrus County - 2 cases

*Clay County - 3 cases

*Collier County - 4 cases

*Duval County - 6 cases

*Escambia County - 2 cases

*Highlands County - 1 case

*Hillsborough County - 10 cases

*Lake County - 1 case

*Lee County - 6 cases

*Manatee County - 1 case

*Martin County - 1 case

*Miami-Dade County - 96 cases

*Okaloosa County - 2 cases

*Okeechobee County - 1 case

*Orange County - 40 cases

*Osceola County - 18 cases

*Palm Beach County - 18 cases

*Pasco County - 6 cases

*Pinellas County - 7 cases

*Polk County - 12 cases

*Santa Rosa County - 1 case

*Seminole County - 12 cases

*St. Johns County - 3 cases

*St. Lucie County - 1 case

*Volusia County - 5 cases.


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Eric Yutzy joined Local 10 News as a news anchor and reporter. He co-anchors Local 10 News on weekday mornings.