Patient Dies After Contracting Rabies From Organ Transplant

A Michigan patient received a transplanted organ in December, then died the following month of rabies contracted from that organ, the state's health department says. The patient was not identified, nor was the organ that was transplanted, but the transplant surgery took place in Ohio, so the two states' health departments worked together on the investigation into the death, NBC News reports. The official statement reveals little more than, "A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ," but authorities also said they found no risk to the general public, CBS News reports.

Fewer than 10 people per year die of rabies in the US, usually after contracting the virus via a bite or scratch from an infected animal. It's highly treatable, but only if treatment begins before symptoms start; if not, it's deadly. While potential organ donors are assessed for infections including viruses and bacteria, rabies is not typically screened for since it's a relatively rare infection and the testing for it takes a long time. In 2004, three people died from rabies after contracting it from organs they received from an infected donor, and in 2013, a Maryland man died of rabies contracted from a transplanted kidney. (More rabies stories.)