JPAC Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee

Animal Bite (Non-Human)

ObligatoryMust not donate if:
a) Ever bitten by a non-human primate (monkeys and apes).

b) Any wound is infected or not healed.
See if RelevantInfection - General
Rabies

For a human bite:
Non-Consented Exposure to Human Body Fluids
Additional InformationAnimal bites may result in many different infections. Allowing all wounds to heal and for any obvious infection to have resolved should avoid problems.

There is a concern that bites from non-human primates, because of close genetic links, may transmit diseases that could cause illness in people. It is known that some diseases have been transmitted by this route. For this reason any person who has ever been bitten by a non-human primate is not allowed to donate.

Rabies, and similar diseases, have long incubation periods and do not show as a wound infection. There is no evidence that these infections have ever been transmitted through a blood transfusion. These diseases appear to be confined to the nervous system during their incubation periods. There is evidence that they have been transmitted through organ, tissue and ocular transplants. For this reason there are different rules for material that may contain nervous system tissue.
Reason for changeThere have been minor changes to make it clear that the reference is to non-human animals and to introduce guidance concerning bites from non-human primates.
Donor InformationIf you wish to obtain more information regarding a personal medical issue please contact your National Help Line.

Please do not contact this web site for personal medical queries, as we are not in a position to provide individual answers.

Update Information

This entry was last updated in:
DSG-WB Edition 203, Release 01.