Illinois’ largest blood donation agency — Lifesource Blood Services — will begin testing donors for the West Nile virus starting Monday, July 7.

Last year more than 880 people tested positive for the virus in Illinois.

Blood transfusions were one of the many ways in which the virus spread, Lifesource spokeswoman Tammy Basile said.

“This is party of our continuing effort to ensure that there is a safe blood supply,” Basile said.

The test — which recently was approved by the Food and Drug Administration — is similar to the test used to detect HIV or hepatitis C.

“It’s all done confidentially and we will inform (donors) if they do test positive,” Basile said.

But donors need not worry — Basile said the donation process will not become more complicated.

“They’re only asked one additional question,” she said. “We ask for people’s patience because it does delay the process by a few minutes.”

The new test will become the part of the 24- to 48-hour testing period, during which blood is tested for HIV and other blood-borne diseases.

People should not be afraid to give blood because of the possibility of catching the West Nile virus, Basile said.

“You cannot get anything from donating blood,” Basile said. “It’s one needle just for you and you cannot contract anything.”

Basile said that Lifesource added the test to make sure there were no ways for West Nile to spread through the blood supply.