After the CDC confirmed a kidney transplant caused a fatal rabies infection, three other organ recipients from the same donor received post-exposure rabies prophylaxis, according to NBC News.
In December, a Michigan resident received a kidney transplant at a hospital in Ohio and died in January. The patient was hospitalized in Toledo, according to the Ohio Health Department. It is unknown if the Toledo hospital was also the transplant site.
Once the CDC’s Rabies Laboratory confirmed rabies as the cause of death, the agency launched a public health investigation with several state health departments. Officials found that the same donor also provided corneal grafts to three patients in different states.
“Based on the concerning symptoms of the kidney recipient who died, CDC worked with Missouri health officials to intercept a fourth corneal graft before it could be implanted into a Missouri resident — even before rabies was confirmed in the donor,” the CDC said, according to the report. “All corneal tissue recipients have gotten post-exposure prophylaxis shots to prevent rabies and are currently healthy.”
Healthcare workers who may have been exposed to the virus were also offered preventive shots.
The organ donor died five weeks after being exposed to a wild animal in Idaho, likely a skunk, according to the CDC. The agency said it has notified close contacts of both the donor and the Michigan patient about potential rabies exposure.
Organ donors are typically screened for infectious diseases, but rabies is not commonly included due to its rarity and the time it takes to obtain test results, according to NBC News.
Similar incidents have occurred. In 2013, a Florida resident died from rabies about a year after receiving a kidney transplant. In 2004, three people died after receiving organs from a rabies-infected donor in Arkansas, the report said.
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