Crea
Tech Solutions
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which malaria-endemic countries are included in the map collection?
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia (Kampuchea), Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eritrea, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam, & Yemen.
Which malaria maps have overlays in the Reference Editions?
Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Eswatini, French Guiana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nicaragua, North Korea, Panama, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Suriname, Thailand, & Vietnam.
What source of information is used to determine malaria-endemic areas?
The definition of malaria-endemic areas, countries, and donor screening requirements is based on the December 2022 FDA Guidance document:
In accordance with FDA recommendations, the CDC's Yellow Book is used to determine malaria-endemic areas depicted on our maps.
What source of information is used to determine vCJD risk areas?
Variant CJD information has been removed from the Blood Donor Editions following the FDA's publication of revised guidance that ended the recommendation to defer blood donors for geographic risk of BSE exposure in May of 2022.
For the Tissue Donor Editions, the most current FDA Tissue Guidance that addresses vCJD screening of tissue donors is used: "Guidance for Industry: Eligibility Determination for Donors of Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps)", August 2007
Why aren't maps included for ALL malaria endemic countries?
Maps are only provided for countries where malaria-endemic areas cover a portion of the country. Maps are not provided for countries that are malaria-endemic in their entirety because
maps are not needed to make deferral determinations for donors that traveled to or resided in one or more of these countries. Therefore there is negligible value in providing maps for such countries, especially compared with the cost of providing them.
Which additional areas are covered by the malaria detail maps?
Afghanistan: Kabul Region
Brazil: States of Espírito Santo, Goiás, and Minas Gerais; Rio de Janeiro; & São Paulo
Colombia: Central Highlands region
Indonesia: Bali, Jakarta & the Thousand Islands area, Java, & the Nusa Tenggara region
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur urban area & Penang State
Mexico: States of Chiapas, & Chihuahua
Philippines: Regions of Mindanao & Palawan
South Korea: Inch’ŏn, Kangwŏn, and Kyŏnggi Provinces
Thailand: Southern Region
Vietnam: Mekong Delta & Red River Delta regions
The Caribbean Islands
Why don't all of the maps have overlays in the Reference Editions?
Overlays are created for maps in select cases when geographic disease risk areas are described in terms of the administrative divisions (states, provinces, departments, districts, etc.) of a country. Overlays allow users to verify the risk areas against the administrative division boundaries.
What source of information is used to determine geographic areas?
Maps and other available resources are used to depict each country, location, name, and boundary. Multiple sources are used in the production of each map in order to ensure that the information portrayed is as current and accurate as possible. Sources used in the collection include country and regional maps produced by the United Nations' Cartographic Section of the Department of Field Support, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United States' National Aeronautic Space Administrations, the Geonames geographic database, and others.
All maps are created using ArcMAP GIS software and geographic sources are attributed on each map.
Why aren't maps included for EVERY country in the world?
Just as there is negligible value in providing maps for countries that are malaria-endemic in their entirety (see question to the left), there isn't really any value in providing maps of countries without disease risk either.
If a potential donor reports travel to a country that does not have disease risk, it is not necessary to determine where the donor traveled within the country in order to assess the donor's eligibility.
Some blood banks require verification of non-malaria-endemic countries reported by donors to positively validate that the location reported is actually a country. We include a List of Non-Malaria-Endemic Countries for this purpose.