CINCINNATI, OHIO – A rare and tragic medical disaster has claimed the life of a Michigan man who contracted rabies through an organ transplant. The donor, who had passed away weeks earlier, had been infected while rescuing a kitten from a rabid skunk, a fatal detail that was missed during the initial medical screening.
A Missed Diagnosis
According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the recipient underwent the transplant surgery in December 2024 in Ohio. Five weeks later, he began suffering severe symptoms, including tremors, confusion, difficulty swallowing, and a fear of water. Despite emergency treatment, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he died shortly after being hospitalized.
The source of the infection was traced back to the donor, whose cause of death had been misunderstood. The donor’s family later revealed that in October 2024, he had been scratched on the shin while fending off a skunk that was showing "predatory aggression" toward a kitten.
"Exceptionally Rare Event"
When the donor fell ill weeks after the scratch, medical staff attributed his symptoms such as hallucinations and trouble walking to other health issues. Because human rabies is "exceptionally rare" in the U.S., no screening was performed before his organs were harvested.
Postmortem testing later confirmed that the virus was transmitted via the transplanted organ. This marks only the fourth known case of rabies spreading through a transplant in the U.S. since 1978.
Preventative Measures
Following the discovery, doctors rushed to treat three other patients who had received the donor's corneas. The grafts were surgically removed, and the patients were placed on preventative medication to stop the virus from taking hold.
Health officials stressed that while this case is a catastrophic alignment of circumstances, the odds of such transmission remain extremely low. Fewer than 10 humans die from rabies annually in the U.S.
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