A tragic series of events led to a fatal case of transplant-related rabies earlier this year.
Health officials announced Thursday that an organ recipient who underwent transplant surgery in Ohio died of rabies in February. Further investigation revealed that the donor had become infected with the fatal virus after saving a kitten from a skunk.
The unnamed patient, from Michigan, received the donor’s kidney in December 2024, and later developed severe symptoms that prompted hospitalization and "invasive" procedures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
He reportedly experienced fever, tremors, difficulty swallowing and fear of water and died 51 days after the transplant.
The CDC said the donor, whose donated tissue went to three other recipients, was infected with the silver-haired bat variant of rabies, suggesting the skunk had been infected by a bat.
Records revealed that the organ donor, from Idaho, was scratched on the shin while fending off a skunk that displayed "predatory aggression" six weeks before his death.
"In late October 2024, a skunk approached the donor as he held a kitten in an outbuilding on his rural property," the CDC said. "During an encounter that rendered the skunk unconscious, the donor sustained a shin scratch that bled, but he did not think he had been bitten. According to the family, the donor attributed the skunk’s behavior to predatory aggression toward the kitten."
In the following five weeks, the donor began experiencing hallucinations, trouble swallowing, difficulty walking and a stiff neck, the agency said.
Two days later, he was discovered unresponsive at home after a suspected heart attack, according to health officials. He was reportedly revived at a hospital but was declared brain-dead and removed from life support.
The CDC said his organs were donated after the family documented the skunk encounter in a donor risk assessment. However, health officials noted that the form did not screen for rabies, citing its "rarity in humans."
"In the United States, potential donors’ family members often provide information about a donor’s infectious disease risk factors, including animal exposures," the CDC said. "Rabies is excluded from routine donor pathogen testing because of its rarity in humans in the United States and the complexity of diagnostic testing. In this case, hospital staff members who treated the donor were initially unaware of the skunk scratch and attributed his pre-admission signs and symptoms to chronic comorbidities."
Health officials added that three other patients received corneal tissue from the same infected donor. They all underwent graft removal, received rabies treatment and remained asymptomatic, the CDC reported.
Health officials also reached out to 370 people who could have been in contact with the donor, according to the agency. Forty-six of them were recommended to undergo rabies procedures.
Health officials said the kidney recipient’s death marks the fourth documented case of rabies transmission through an organ transplant in the U.S. since 1978, emphasizing that the risk of such infections remains extremely low.
Transplant teams are now advised to consult public health officials if a potential donor has recent bites or scratches from rabies-susceptible animals, especially if the donor has had unexplained neurological symptoms.
However, "no standard guidance currently exists for addressing reported donor animal exposures by transplant teams," the CDC said.
About 1.4 million Americans receive care for possible rabies exposure annually, and fewer than 10 die from the disease due to effective prevention efforts, according to the agency.
Bonny Chu
https://www.foxnews.com/health/michigan-man-dies-rabies-after-receiving-kidney-from-infected-donor-who-saved-kitten-from-skunk-cdc
A Michigan resident has died of rabies after receiving an organ transplant.
The patient, who received the transplant at an Ohio hospital in December 2024, died of the fatal virus in January 2025, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital.
"The person was a recent organ transplant recipient, and a public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ," the spokesperson said.
The rabies confirmation was made by the CDC Rabies Laboratory.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has worked closely with the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the investigation, the same source stated.
"Health officials worked together to ensure that people, including healthcare providers, who were in contact with the Michigan individual were assessed for possible exposure to rabies," the MDHHS stated. "Post-exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided."
"There is no threat to the general public."
The organ donor was not a Michigan or Ohio resident, according to health officials. No additional information has been provided about the resident or the donor.
While organs are routinely screened for infectious diseases, cancers, quality and functionality prior to transplant, rabies testing is not typically performed.
"There is currently no country or institution that requires the screening of rabies among donors before organ transplantation surgery," according to information published by the National Institutes of Health.
In 2013, the CDC confirmed the death of four people in Maryland who contracted rabies after receiving organs from the same donor.
In 2004, the agency reported the rabies deaths of three people who received organs from a common infected donor.
What to know about rabies
Rabies is a deadly viral disease that is mainly transmitted to people and pets through bites or scratches from an infected animal, according to the CDC.
The virus affects the central nervous system, ultimately causing brain dysfunction. The infected person may experience anxiety, confusion, agitation and hallucinations, per the health agency.
Rabies is almost always fatal if the infected person does not receive medical attention before symptoms begin.
Around 60,000 people in the U.S. receive medical care after being exposed to rabies, the CDC stated.
Fewer than 10 deaths are reported in the country each year.
Most Americans who contract rabies are infected by bats.
Other animals that commonly carry rabies include raccoons, skunks and foxes.
Melissa Rudy
https://www.foxnews.com/health/patient-dies-rabies-organ-transplant-infected-donor
