West Nile Risk in Blood Transfusions

September 19, 2002

ATLANTA — West Nile virus can survive in donated blood and can probably be spread by transfusion, federal health officials said Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information on seven transfusion cases associated with the virus and concluded that in at least one case West Nile in a donor's blood stayed viable after the donation.

CDC doctors called that case "highly suspicious" and wrote that West Nile "probably can be spread by transfusion."

Previously, doctors weren't sure whether it was possible to spread West Nile through blood, although a Georgia case in which donated organs spread West Nile to four recipients in August raised the question.

Most West Nile victims contract the virus from an infected mosquito. So far this year, the CDC has reported more than 1,640 human cases of West Nile virus, including 80 deaths.

CDC researchers found that even if West Nile victims can spread the disease through blood donations, not all patients who receive tainted blood will become infected with West Nile. Doctors pointed to a July case in which a 55-year-old woman received contaminated blood after an orthopedic procedure but never tested positive for the virus.

Health officials urged recent transfusion recipients to see their doctors if they develop flu-like symptoms. Patients can quickly be diagnosed with West Nile based on their immune response to the virus, and prompt reporting can help officials take infected blood donations out of use.

There is no suitable West Nile screening test for blood donations. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the nation's blood supply, says it is studying whether such a test is necessary.

The CDC also warned doctors Thursday that West Nile can cause acute polio-like paralysis in some cases. Physicians were urged to test patients for West Nile if they report acute, painless paralysis but don't appear to have had a stroke.

West Nile, which emerged in the United States just three years ago, has struck other countries for decades.

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