A transplant recipient in Michigan died after contracting rabies from a donor organ, state health officials said Wednesday.
The transplant was done at an Ohio hospital in December, and the patient died in January, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin told the Daily News.
“The person was a recent organ transplant recipient, and a public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” Sutfin said in an emailed statement. “The organ donor was not a Michigan or Ohio resident. No additional information is being provided about the resident or the donor.”
The department had worked with the Ohio Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out what happened, and the CDC Rabies Laboratory confirmed the diagnosis, she said.
“There is no threat to the general public,” Sutfin said. “Health officials worked together to ensure that people, including health care providers, who were in contact with the Michigan individual were assessed for possible exposure to rabies. Post-exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided.”
Sutfin noted that less than 1% of all those who receive organs or tissue contract an infection from the transplanted material. The CDC has recorded two instances of rabies transmission in the U.S. related to organ donation, one in 2004 and another in 2013. Other instances have been recorded internationally, but occurrences are exceedingly rare, the CDC said.
Organ donors are generally not screened for rabies, the CDC said.
“All potential organ donors in the United States are screened and tested to identify if the donor might present an infectious risk,” the CDC said in its report on the 2004 incident. “Donor eligibility is determined through a series of questions posed to family and contacts, physical examination, and blood testing for evidence of organ dysfunction and selected bloodborne viral pathogens and syphilis. Laboratory testing for rabies is not performed.”
Overall, rabies causes fewer than 10 deaths per year, the CDC notes on its website.
