The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has confirmed a few units of blood — donated and screened in Florida — tested positive for Zika, according to CBS Miami.
Officials have not revealed where or when the blood was donated. The CMO of OneBlood — a nonprofit that supplies blood products to 200 hospitals in Florida, parts of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina — confirmed the positive samples were screened at the organization's lab in St. Petersburg where all donated blood collected by the nonprofit is tested for Zika, according to WPTV.
"The donation did not enter the blood supply. We don't release blood until all tests come back negative," said CMO Rita Reik, MD, according to WPTV.
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On Feb. 16, the FDA issued guidance urging areas with active Zika transmissions to screen donated blood for the virus. On Aug. 25, the FDA issued a revised guidance advising every state and U.S. territory to test donated blood for Zika using an investigational diagnostic blood test authorized by the agency.
The positive screenings mark the first instance of multiple Zika-positive donated blood tests among U.S. states.
"A few additional potential positive donations are also currently under investigation," Tara Goodin, an FDA spokeswoman, told The Seattle Times in an email.
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