New 21-day waiting period to be fully implemented by this Friday for donating blood after travel (OTTAWA, ON) – In response to the recent global outbreak of the Zika virus, Canadian Blood Services is confirming that anyone who has travelled outside of Canada, the continental United States and Europe will now be temporarily ineligible to give blood for three weeks. This new waiting period is currently being implemented across the country and will take full effect in all of our clinics starting on Friday, February 5. While determining what the official deferral period should be, we had asked

Ottawa - Le Secrétariat américain aux produits alimentaires et pharmaceutiques, la Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a annoncé aujourd’hui que tous les dons de sang réalisés aux États-Unis et dans les territoires américains feraient l’objet de tests de dépistage du virus Zika. Jusqu’à présent, la FDA avait recommandé que soient seulement analysés les dons de sang réalisés dans les endroits où le virus Zika se propageait parmi les moustiques. Après avoir pris connaissance d’informations sur la transmission du virus aux États-Unis, la FDA recommande maintenant que tous les dons de sang

As we continue to monitor the evolution of the Zika virus, we are revising our eligibility criteria for donors to mitigate the risk of the virus entering the Canadian blood supply. Canadian Blood Services will implement a new deferral period for blood, cord blood and stem cell donors who have recently travelled to locations outside of Canada, the United States and Europe. We are working with Health Canada and Héma-Québec to determine the length of the deferral period. In the meantime, we are asking all potential donors who have recently travelled to places outside of those mentioned to