Officials researching whether West Nile is transmissible by blood

WASHINGTON - Health officials are trying to determine if the West Nile virus can be spread through blood transfusions. <br> <br> But they say any test to screen donated blood for the sometimes deadly disease is at least months, maybe years, away. <br> <br> Still, they emphasized Wednesday that the blood supply is very safe and the risk of contracting West Nile from blood is significantly lower than the risk of forgoing any procedure that would require a transfusion. <br> <br> West Nile, which emerged in the United States just three years ago, has exploded across much of the country this summer, with 673 cases and 32 deaths. <br> <br> But concern increased yesterday when officials confirmed that at least three of four people who had received organs from a Georgia woman had contracted the disease. One died. <br> <br> Officials said they are convinced that these patients got the disease through their transplants, though they do not yet know whether the virus can be spread through blood as well.