CDC believes West Nile can be spread through blood

ATLANTA - Federal health officials said Thursday that West Nile virus can probably be spread by transfusion, so all blood donations will likely be screened for the virus as soon as a test can be developed. <br> <br> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information that suggests West Nile virus can remain viable in donated blood for several days and that it appears some blood recipients have been sickened by infected blood. <br> <br> A woman in Mississippi caught West Nile after receiving blood transfusions from three infected donors. CDC doctors called that case ``highly suspicious&#39;&#39; and wrote that West Nile ``probably can be spread by transfusion.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Previously, doctors weren&#39;t sure whether it was possible to spread West Nile through blood, although a Georgia case in which donated organs spread the virus to four recipients in August raised the question. <br> <br> The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the nation&#39;s blood supply, announced preliminary plans to screen all blood donations for West Nile, even though doctors can&#39;t say for certain the virus can be spread that way. <br> <br> The screening process could prove tricky because West Nile isn&#39;t like other diseases currently screened out of the blood supply. For starters, West Nile is much harder to detect than a virus such as HIV because there are relatively small amounts of West Nile virus in tainted blood. <br> <br> The CDC also warned doctors today 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&#39;t appear to have had a stroke.