FDA alerts providers to false positives from Zika test; CDC awards Zika funds

The Food and Drug Administration recently alerted physicians to some false positive results for a test used to detect Zika virus antibodies in patients with a history of clinical signs and symptoms or residence in or travel to a region with active Zika transmission. The agency does not yet know whether the false positives were related to the test or the U.S. commercial testing facility that reported them. Among other actions, FDA urged health care providers to inform their patients that presumptive positive results need to be confirmed, so that pregnant women are not making health care decisions based on incomplete information. In other news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded about $184 million in Zika funding to states, territories, local jurisdictions and universities.