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MALARIA UPDATE TO DONOR SCREENING GEO GUIDE
January 31, 2025
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During routine monthly review of the CDC’s online Yellow Book, revised malaria information for Ethiopia was discovered. The CDC had issued a Level 1 Travel Notice for Ethiopia on January 17, but it was not clear that the malaria recommendations were being revised at that time. The change in malaria-endemic areas in Ethiopia are limited to the capital city of Addis Ababa. The city has been revised from non-malaria-endemic to malaria endemic. The update to all editions of the Donor Screening GEO Guide revises the malaria map of Ethipoia.

UPDATE TO TISSUE DONOR SCREENING GEO GUIDE
January 31, 2025
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A new Tuberculosis section has been added to the Tissue editions of the Donor Screening GEO Guide. This is in response to new guidance from the FDA that now recommends screening of HCT/P donors for risk of Tuberculosis.
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Highlights of this update include:
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The main Sections Table has been revised to add the new section for Tuberculosis.
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The Tissue Donor GEO Matrix has been revised to add a column for Tuberculosis information.
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The malaria map of Ethiopia has been revised.
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Document Change History: Malaria has been updated.
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A new Tuberculosis section has been added, consisting of:
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Tuberculosis section contents table
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Tuberculosis: Tissue Donor Screening Facts
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Technical Notes: Tuberculosis (Reference editions only)
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Document Change History: Tuberculosis
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Reference list: Countries Where Tuberculosis is Common
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FDA ISSUES TISSUE GUIDANCE RECOMMENDS SCREENING HCT/P DONORS FOR RISK OF TUBERCULOSIS
January 20, 2025
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The FDA has issued new guidance for screening HCT/P donors for risk of Tuberculosis. This guidance includes recommendations to identify donors that were born in, lived in, or traveled to countries where Tuberculosis is common. Here is a link to the guidance:
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A new Tuberculosis section will be added to Tissue editions of the GEO Guide to address the geographic screening elements of this new guidance. The guidance is not specific about which countries should be considered at risk but refers to several reference documents (some of which have been superseded with more current data). Nevertheless, a thoughtful and defensible list of Tuberculosis risk countries for screening tissue donors in accordance with the guidance will be provided in a fresh update, targeted for release on January 31st.