BSE case in U.S. spurs FDA review of blood banks

The discovery: A cow, slaughtered in Washington state for human consumption, tested positive in late December 2003 for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This confirmation marked the first official case of BSE on American soil.

Meanwhile, in Great Britain, a case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human manifestation of BSE, was reportedly found to have been transmitted by blood transfusion.

It is no surprise that the convergence of these two events has given the U.S. blood banking community pause. But experts maintain that for now, all is well.

"The [Food and Drug Administration] will determine whether recent events warrant any further action based on its review," said Paul Richards, a FDA spokesman. "The agency believes that its current blood safety policies remain highly effective in minimizing the risk for transmission of vCJD by transfusion in the United States."

Most of those in the blood banking industry are paying close attention but believe that U.S. food safety rules, including additional ones instituted after the discovery of the sick cow, should keep the blood supply safe.

"It's a matter to which we pay a lot of attention and over which we have a certain amount of concern. But, at the moment, it's our belief that the finding of one cow in the United States really hasn't made a major impact on the formal risk status for North America," said Roger Dodd, PhD, immediate past-president of the American Assn. of Blood Banks.

In the past, concerns about BSE -- the so-called mad cow disease -- led to the imposition of certain restrictions on potential blood donors. For instance, in May 2002, people with a history of living in France or the United Kingdom or military personnel who were stationed in certain parts of Europe were banned from giving blood. These rules cost the industry hundreds of thousands of donors and further strained the blood supply -- the abundance of which is a constant and pressing concern.

"The major issue that we have to think about in the United States is quantity rather than quality," said John W. Burch, MD, chief medical officer at the American Red Cross Blood Services, New York-Pennsylvania region. "We're really struggling to maintain an adequate blood supply."