When blood is donated, tests are performed on the blood to make sure it’s safe to give to a recipient.
Most of the tests look for multiple infectious disease markers, according to the American Red Cross.
The organization says it performs the following tests on donated blood:
- Chagas disease
- Hepatitis B virus
- Hepatitis C virus
- Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV)
- Human T-Lymphotropic Virus
- Syphilis
- West Nile Virus
