Screening donated blood is already underway in Florida and Puerto Rico, but now rest of the country should follow.

Zika is a particularly dangerous virus because of the limited to unknown extent of its symptoms, sources of transmission, and long-term impact. Given this limited knowledge, as well as the the known effects of the virus, taking precautions to screen it in donated blood is very important. It gives scientists and researchers a certain amount of time to understand and in turn contend with the virus–to create a treatment for it.

Screenings will also help people who are already sick to not be exposed to this new virus when having blood transfusions.

The world can’t change the fact that thousands of people are already infected, but it can change the future for those people who are still healthy– allowing them to stay healthy. Eventually, the science will develop far enough to be a be able to treat infected persons, but in the current state of things, there is no other option but to limit its exposure.

Source: US blood supply should be screened for Zika, FDA says – CNN.com