Blood Bank of Delmarva tests for the Zika virus

The Zika virus continues to spread across the country and cases have been reported in all 50 states.

In the state of Delaware 16 cases have been reported and 108 in Maryland.

Due to the rapid spread, the FDA has required each and every blood center in the U.S. to test for the Zika virus in all of the blood collected.

The deadline to be ready to do this testing was November 18, 2016.

The Blood Bank of Delmarva, which is the main supplier of blood and blood products on the shore, says they are ready.

Now to put this in perspective, the normal timeline for a laboratory to implement a new mandatory test would take 6 months to a year.

This time only 12 weeks were given.

Salisbury’s Blood Recruiter for Blood Bank of Delmarva, Susan Murray, says this new testing is essential because people receiving blood are in a comprised state of health. So anything small can really impact them.

They want to make sure if the donor has the Zika virus in their blood that somebody whose in a weakened state doesn’t receive it because it could have consequences for them.

Officials tell us after donating blood, it takes up to two days to test for the virus.