Wall Street Journal - December 10, 2008

For the sickest patients, donated blood, organs and human tissue can be the gift of life. But they can also bring life-threatening risks, from deadly infections contracted through a donated liver, to fatal lung injuries and allergic reactions in blood-transfusion recipients.

Despite rapid growth in blood transfusions and transplants, the U.S. lags behind other countries in creating a system to monitor threats of disease transmission and complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, the CDC is teaming up with a coalition of private blood banks, tissue banks and organ-donation groups to develop a national "biovigilance" network. The network will use Web-based reporting systems to collect data on complications and deaths; identify emerging disease threats; and rapidly notify hospitals about infected donors whose organs and tissues may be earmarked for multiple recipients.

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