Colorado West Nile death traced to cleared blood

Federal health officials say that a Colorado West Nile death is the first traced to a blood transfusion of blood that was screened for the virus.

The 2012 death is detailed in a Thursday report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The patient died after receiving blood that was approved for use after a screening for West Nile Virus.

The patient was identified only as a Colorado man who had cancer and was in the hospital for chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. The report calls for further study of the blood-screening procedure and urges physicians to consider West Nile virus when patients show symptoms compatible with the virus after being transfused.

The nation’s blood supply has been screened for West Nile virus since 2003.