By RFD Radio/WFMB
SPRINGFIELD – Blood donation centers are alerting potential donors that travel to a few counties in Florida could impact their blood donation plans.
Tara Matheson with the Central Illinois Community Blood Center says with the arrival of the ZIka virus in south Florida, the result is a restriction when it comes to donating blood.
“We want to make sure donors are aware if they travel to Miami-Dade or Broward counties in Florida we would ask them to self defer for 28 days,” Matheson said.
She added the blood center said they are connected to a national blood donation system called One Blood and if supplies are low in south Florida because of donation issues then supplies could flow from Illinois to the Miami area.
Matheson said the blood center takes the safety of the blood supply seriously.
“With the blood supply, we want to be as safe as possible,” Matheson said. “We want everyone single unit that transfused to be safe. We go out of our way to make sure that’s the case.”
BloodCenterImpact.org is a catch all for blood donations and drives in your area.
