CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The state has suspended testing blood for hepatitis C because it ran out of the test kits.
County health departments rely on the Department of Health and Human Resources to test blood samples for hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The Charleston Daily Mail (http://bit.ly/Ru3zZK ) reports that the DHHR's Office of Laboratory Services recently notified the counties that it is temporarily halting hepatitis C tests because it doesn't have any test kits. The office cited problems with a bid process.
The state's contract with a California company that supplied the kits expired earlier this year. The Office of Laboratory Services told county health departments that two bids for a new contract didn't meet the specifications.
The office expects to obtain more kits by Nov. 1.
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Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com
