Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Some Donated Blood Has Leukemia Virus

Ten of every 1,000 units of donated blood are infected with the deadly human T-cell leukemia virus, but screening techniques are capable of detecting it in nine of the 10, Dr. Myron E. Essex of the Harvard School of Medicine said in a report to the American Assn. for Clinical Chemistry in Washington, D.C. The result is that 0.1% of the 13.5 million units of blood donated annually may contain the virus, he said. However, Essex said, even blood infected with the virus will only rarely cause the disease. He estimated the risk at less than 1 in 500,000.