Kidney transplant recipient dies of rabies after donor scratched by skunk: CDC

A tragic collection of occasions led to a deadly case of transplant-associated rabies earlier this 12 months.

Well being officers introduced final Thursday that an organ recipient who underwent transplant surgical procedure in Ohio died of rabies in February. Additional investigation revealed that the donor had turn into contaminated with the deadly virus after saving a kitten from a skunk. 

The unnamed affected person, from Michigan, obtained the donor’s kidney in December 2024, and later developed extreme signs that prompted hospitalization and “invasive” procedures, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) stated.

He reportedly skilled fever, tremors, issue swallowing and concern of water, and died 51 days after the transplant.

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The CDC stated that the donor — whose donated tissue went to 3 different recipients — was contaminated with the silver-haired bat variant of rabies, suggesting the skunk had been contaminated by a bat.

Data revealed that the organ donor, from Idaho, was scratched on the shin whereas keeping off a skunk that displayed “predatory aggression” six weeks earlier than his loss of life.  

“In late October 2024, a skunk approached the donor as he held a kitten in an outbuilding on his rural property,” the CDC stated. “Throughout an encounter that rendered the skunk unconscious, the donor sustained a shin scratch that bled, however he didn’t assume he had been bitten. In line with the household, the donor attributed the skunk’s habits to predatory aggression towards the kitten.”

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A donor recipient reportedly died a number of weeks after a transplant operation in Ohio. (iStock)

Within the following 5 weeks, the donor started experiencing hallucinations, hassle swallowing, issue strolling and a stiff neck, the company stated. 

Two days later, he was found unresponsive at dwelling after a suspected coronary heart assault, in accordance with well being officers. He was reportedly revived on the hospital, however was in the end declared brain-dead and faraway from life help.  

The CDC stated his organs have been donated after the household documented the skunk encounter in a donor-risk evaluation. Nonetheless, well being officers famous that the shape didn’t display screen for rabies, citing its “rarity in people.”

“In the US, potential donors’ members of the family usually present details about a donor’s infectious illness threat elements, together with animal exposures,” the CDC stated. “Rabies is excluded from routine donor pathogen testing due to its rarity in people within the United States and the complexity of diagnostic testing. On this case, hospital workers members who handled the donor have been initially unaware of the skunk scratch and attributed his pre-admission indicators and signs to persistent comorbidities.”

Well being officers added that three different sufferers obtained corneal tissue from the identical contaminated donor. All of them underwent graft removing, obtained rabies remedy and remained asymptomatic, the CDC reported.

Well being officers additionally reached out to 370 individuals who may have been involved with the donor, in accordance with the company. Forty-six of them have been beneficial to bear rabies procedures. 

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A Michigan man was scratched by a skunk whereas saving a kitten on his rural property. (Peter Bischoff)

Well being officers stated the kidney recipient’s loss of life marks the fourth documented case of rabies transmission by an organ transplant within the U.S. since 1978, emphasizing that the chance of such infections stays extraordinarily low.

Transplant groups are actually suggested to seek the advice of public well being officers if a possible donor has latest bites or scratches from rabies-susceptible animals, particularly if the donor has had unexplained neurological signs.

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Nonetheless, “no commonplace steering presently exists for addressing reported donor animal exposures by transplant groups,” the CDC stated. 

About 1.4 million People obtain take care of potential rabies publicity yearly, and fewer than 10 die from the illness resulting from efficient prevention efforts, in accordance with the company.

Fox Information Digital reached out to the CDC for extra data.