Michigan Resident Dies After Contracting Rabies From a Transplanted Organ

A Michigan resident who received a transplanted organ died after having been infected with rabies from the new organ. NBC News has the story.

The patient “received the transplant at a hospital in Ohio in December, then died in January.” The identity of the recipient and the type of organ that was transplanted is not publicly known. The CDC’s Rabies Laboratory confirmed the diagnosis, and “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.”

Rabies spreads to humans if “they come into contact with saliva or blood from infected animals.” The problem is that it is not always clear right away “that a person has contracted rabies, as the initial symptoms are similar to those of the flu” before progressing to “difficulty swallowing, excessive salivation, and hallucinations.” The disease is fatal if a person does not seek medical care quickly after having been scratched or bitten by a potentially infected animal.

Organ donors in the U.S. are screened for “viruses, bacteria, and other infections; however, rabies is not usually among those tests, in part because the test for it takes too long and because the infection is so rare in people.”