Unit of Blood Donated in Saskatchewan Becomes the First in Canada to Test Positive for West Nile Virus

OTTAWA, Ontario – July 25, 2003 – Canadian Blood Services’ new screening test for West Nile Virus has had its first positive result – a unit of blood that was donated in Saskatchewan on July 22. A sample taken from the donated blood tested positive at Canadian Blood Services’ West Nile Virus laboratory in Calgary and supplementary testing performed at the organization’s National Testing Laboratory in Ottawa, confirmed the result late this afternoon.

The donor and officials from Saskatchewan Public Health have been notified of the test results. The unit of donated blood has been withdrawn from inventory and the donor will not be eligible to donate blood again for 56 days, at which time the virus will no longer be present in the blood.

“This result shows that our West Nile Virus test is doing exactly what it was designed to do – helping reduce the risk that the virus will enter the blood supply,” said Dr. Graham Sher, Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Blood Services. “However, as the season progresses, and more donors are deferred for West Nile Virus, it will be increasingly important for Canadians to come forward and give blood to ensure that we maintain a sufficient supply to meet patient needs. This is a situation where the willingness of Canadians to roll up their sleeves and give is going to make all the difference,” said Dr. Sher. People wanting to make an appointment or find out about upcoming clinics can call 1 888 2 DONATE.

Canadian Blood Services has been screening all units of donated blood since July 1, 2003, with a total of more than 60,000 tested so far. Currently, Canadian Blood Services provides hospitals with a combination of blood that has been tested for the virus as well as untested blood, should tested blood not be available. The untested blood was collected and stockpiled in June, when the risk of West Nile Virus was very low. Since there were no human cases of the virus in June, this stockpiled blood is considered to be equivalent in safety to the tested blood.

Canadian Blood Services uses a commercial West Nile Virus test developed by Roche Diagnostics. The Roche test uses the same technology that is already used to test every unit of blood for HIV and hepatitis-C. It has been introduced as an investigational test in order to make it available at the earliest time, and therefore its effectiveness will continue to be monitored and enhanced. It is standard practice to introduce tests at the earliest possible date in order to provide the highest safety possible at the time, and to make incremental improvements over time.

Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec and operates the country’s Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Canadian Blood Services operates 40 permanent collection sites and more than 15,000 donor clinics annually. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.bloodservices.ca.

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