The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants all U.S. blood banks to start screening for Zika virus, a major expansion intended to protect the U.S. blood supply from the mosquito-borne disease. Previously, the requirement was limited to areas with active Zika transmission, such as Puerto Rico and two Florida counties. No change to Canadian blood screeningLast month, the FDA told blood centres in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to immediately stop collecting donations until they could begin screening each unit of blood for Zika. "We've determined the risk of Zika virus entering the Canadian blood system to be extremely low," a spokesman said in an email. Health officials said more study is needed to determine the risk of sexual transmission of Zika from asymptomatic individuals.

Source: CBC News August 26, 2016 15:08 UTC