BACKGROUND : Post transfusion hepatitis is common even with stringent donor selection criteria, and screening for HBsAg. Serologic testing for HBsAg and anti-HBc have been used as the foundation of blood screening in many countries. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative blood donors, other markers of HBV infection and their effect on serum Alanineaminotransferase(ALT) METHODS: This was a cross sectional study in which 200 HBsAg negative blood donors were recruited. Screening for the viral markers was done using both rapid test kit and ELISA for anti-HBc IgM. Quantitative/qualitative analysis of anti-HBc IgM by “capture” enzyme immunoassay was carried out on all serum samples using DIA.PRO HBc IgM test kit. The other viral markers were carried out using One step cassette style HBV test. Serum ALT was determined using Centronic GmbH ALT test kit. SPSS (version 16.0 windows) was used for data analysis. A p value of <0.05 was considered significant.