Travelers coming back from any outbreak zones of the Zika virus will need to wait at least 28 days before giving blood to avoid any risk of transmission, French health minister Marisol Touraine said on Sunday, reports Yahoo! News.
Zika, which is rapidly spreading through the Americas and has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is primarily transmitted through mosquito bites.
However, Brazil in the last week announced two cases of transmission through blood transfusions from infected donors.
"Someone who comes from a zone where there is Zika can not give blood for 28 days," Touraine said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, news channel iTele and Le Monde daily.
She also advised pregnant women to inform the authorities if they had traveled to any of the zones.