The SunCoast Blood Bank is now testing all donors for the Zika virus, officials announced Monday.

Although no locally transmitted cases have been reported in Southwest Florida, the blood bank is proactively testing all donors to protect the local blood supply, which supports hospitals in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

As of Friday afternoon, 16 people in Miami had contracted the Zika virus from local mosquitoes, the Florida Department of Health reported. Overall, the state has identified 422 cases, the vast majority of which were acquired during travel outside the United States.

SunCoast Blood Bank’s testing for the virus, which causes severe birth defects if acquired during pregnancy, could also help boost the blood bank’s overall supply, spokeswoman Jayne Giroux said.

Throughout the summer, as the Zika virus has spread throughout the Caribbean and Central and South America, the blood bank has turned away donors who have traveled to Zika-affected countries within 28 days of their blood donation.

The added screening, plus a lower local population and no school-based blood drives in the summer, has resulted in severe shortages of certain blood types, Giroux said.

Now, instead of automatically sending people away, the blood bank will test all donors for Zika and could potentially accept blood from people who have traveled to Zika-affected areas, but have not contracted the virus, Giroux said.

As part of the new testing requirements, donors will fill out paperwork notifying them they are being tested for the Zika virus, and provide an extra tube of blood that will be sent away to an outside lab.

If the blood tests positive for the Zika virus, the donor, the Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control will be notified.

The SunCoast Blood Bank is in urgent need of O negative, O positive, A negative, A positive and B positive blood types.

For donor locations and more information, visit scbb.org or call 1-866-97-BLOOD.