U.S. suspends blood donations in Florida counties over Zika fear

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested Thursday all blood donations be halted in two Florida counties where health officials are investigating the possible first local cases of Zika spread by mosquitoes on the U.S. mainland.

Calling the suspension "a prudent measure to help assure the safety of blood and blood products," the FDA said in a statement that all blood centers in Miami-Dade County and Broward County should cease collecting blood immediately until each individual unit of blood can be tested for the virus or until an approved or investigational technology can be used to kill it.

Additionally, the FDA recommended that adjacent and nearby counties implement the precautions to "help maintain the safety of the blood supply as soon as possible."

The Florida Department of Health said Thursday its investigations into four possible non-travel related Zika virus cases, two in Miami-Dade and another two in Broward, are still ongoing.

Zika spreads to people primarily through mosquito bites, and it can also be spread sexually.

More than 1,400 cases of Zika have been reported in the continental United States, but nearly all are travel-associated cases, only a few acquired the virus through sex with people who contracted it while traveling abroad. Enditem