NEW YORK — Ever since scientists first linked an obscure blood-borne virus to chronic fatigue syndrome two years ago, blood centers around the world have been scrambling to determine whether their collections are safe. With memories of previous blood scares still fresh in the minds of blood bank officials, many collection centers have even gone so far as to bar donations from people with the disease. But it’s not just xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) that threatens global blood supplies today. Even well-known pathogens such as hepatitis B virus can slip through the cracks of existing screening techniques, leading to contaminated blood products and accidental infections.

Newly implemented technologies might change all that. Speaking at the New York Academy of Sciences here in late March, a panel of blood bank officials and infectious disease experts unveiled plans to make blood supplies safer by introducing DNA-based screening tests to improve disease detection.

“Our blood supply is safer than it’s ever been,” Gail Moskowitz, a healthcare consultant who has directed several blood banks in the New York area, said at the 29 March meeting. “But transfusion is still associated with [a] risk of transmission.”

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