Florida moves to halt blood bank collection after 4 cases of Zika confirmed

Following reports that four people in southern Florida have contracted Zika virus, the Food and Drug Administration is requesting that all blood donation establishments in Miami-Dade County and Broward County stop collecting blood immediately until they implement testing procedures for each individual unit of blood collected.

The Office of the Florida Department of Health State Surgeon General said this week that it is conducting an epidemiological investigation into the reported cases of Zika, which it believes are the first cases of local Zika virus transmission by mosquitoes in the continental United States.

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In a statement on its website, the department said it did not believe the cases are travel-related. Those infected -- three men and one woman -- hadn't traveled to places where in the virus is endemic, and don't appear to have contracted it through sex, according to published reports. That leaves open the possibility that they got the virus from infected mosquitoes in the United States.

The DOH is aggressively testing people in the area to ensure there are no other cases. Officials are going door-to-door asking residents to provide urine samples to determine whether there are any more undiscovered cases of Zika.

Florida Governor Rick Scott issued a statement saying the state is committed to using resources to protect its citizens.

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"Last month, I used my emergency executive authority to allocate $26.2 million in state funds for Zika preparedness, prevention and response in Florida," said Scott. "I will continue to travel the state and speak with local leaders, ports and airports to ensure their needs are met. If it becomes clear more resources are needed, we will not hesitate to allocate them."

Scott has directed the DOH to activate the Joint Information Center within the State Emergency Operations Center to ensure impacted areas have coordinated access to information and resources. He also has also directed DOH to provide $620,000 to OneBlood, the primary blood bank in the area, to establish appropriate blood screening. DOH will be working with the FDA and blood establishments in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties to test each individual unit of blood collected.

The Miami-Dade and Broward County Mosquito Control Districts will receive $1.28 million in state funds through December to combat Zika, according to the governor's office.

Twitter: @JELagasse