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San Diego Blood Bank Working To Comply With FDA Mandate To Test For Zika

A mobile blood bank parked in front of Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Rady Children's Hospital / Facebook
A mobile blood bank parked in front of Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.

San Diego Blood Bank Working To Comply With FDA Mandate To Test For Zika
The San Diego Blood Bank is working on a plan to comply with the FDA's requirement to test donations for the Zika virus.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it would require all blood centers to test donations for the Zika virus.

RELATED: All U.S. Blood Donations Should Be Screened For Zika, FDA Says

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The San Diego Blood Bank said it’s working on a plan to comply with the directive as quickly as possible.

In the interim, the blood bank is asking donors a series of screening questions, including whether they've traveled to a Zika-infected region within the last month, or had sexual contact with someone who has.

Donations are already screened for a number of blood-borne illnesses, including HIV and West Nile virus.

The mosquito that carries the Zika virus, the aedes aegypti mosquito, has been found in San Diego and in eleven other California counties, but health officials said they haven't found any cases that originated in California.

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