Kidney Recipient Dies After Transplant from Rabies-Infected Donor

US health officials have announced rare cases of rabies linked to an organ transplant that resulted in two deaths. This is only the fourth instance in nearly 50 years in which an organ donor passed the virus to a recipient, federal officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a man in Idaho became infected with rabies after a skunk scratched his leg in October 2024. More than a month later, he began to hallucinate, had trouble walking and swallowing, and had a stiff neck, according to the CDC report. His organs were then donated - including his left kidney, which went to a patient in Michigan. A few weeks after the transplant, the kidney recipient began experiencing tremors, weakness, confusion, and urinary issues.

Doctors said he later developed fever, had issues with swallowing, and a fear of drinking water – all characteristic symptoms of rabies. After a week in the hospital, he also died.

Testing both men showed rabies

Testing resulted in both men having a strain of rabies, which means that the virus was likely transmitted through the transplant. According to experts, rabies transmission through donated organs is extremely rare. CDC says since 1978, four organ donors have spread rabies to 13 recipients. Of those people, six survived after treatment, while seven died. CDC says organ donations are not routinely tested for rabies “because of its rarity in humans in the United States and the complexity of diagnostic testing.” However, donors are tested for HIV and several forms of hepatitis. “This is an exceptionally rare event,” Dr Lara Danziger-Isakov, the director of immunocompromised host infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told The New York Times, asserting that “Overall, the risk is exceptionally small.”

More testing showed rabies in other organs

After the incident, testing was conducted on the donor’s other kidney, which was not transplanted. However, results showed it also contained the virus. Three other patients who received grafts from the donor's corneas had to get them removed as a precaution, as one of the corneas tested positive for rabies. All three recipients are receiving preventive treatment.

What is rabies?

Rabies is a deadly, preventable viral disease affecting the central nervous system, transmitted through infected animal saliva, usually via bites, causing brain inflammation and is nearly 100 per cent fatal once symptoms appear, making immediate wound cleaning and post-exposure vaccines critical after exposure, especially from dogs, bats, raccoons, and skunks. Symptoms range from fever, anxiety, and tingling at the bite site to paralysis, hydrophobia, and delirium, with prevention focusing on pet vaccination and avoiding contact with potentially infected animals. Rabies in humans is rare in the United States, with fewer than 10 deaths each year, but more than 3,500 animals test positive yearly. The case follows a record year for organ donation.