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Diagnostic Dilemma: Man Caught Rabies From Organ Transplant After Donor Was Scratched by Skunk
The donor was scratched by a rabies-infected skunk, causing a rare transplant-transmitted infection; the CDC reports this is only the fourth such U.S. case since 1978.
- A Michigan man died of rabies after receiving a left kidney transplant at an Ohio hospital from a donor declared brain dead and taken off life support five days later.
- Investigators reconstructed a likely three-step chain from a silver-haired bat variant to a skunk, to the Idaho man, donor who was scratched on his rural property.
- About five weeks after the transplant the recipient developed tremors, weakness, confusion and urinary incontinence, and authorities were baffled because the recipient's family reported no animal exposures; rabies is deadly if untreated before symptoms start.
- Investigators removed three corneal grafts implanted between December 2024 and January 2025 and cancelled a fourth transplant after the CDC detected rabies in one graft and treated all exposed patients.
- The CDC noted this is the fourth U.S. transplant-transmitted rabies case since 1978, with recipient hospitalization and death occurring seven days later, highlighting the absence of routine rabies testing in donor organs.
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Patient Dies After Being Given Organ from Donor With Rabies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just issued a report on a bizarre case involving the death of a transplant patient after he was given a kidney from a donor with rabies. The report would suggest a strong case for liability under the existing tort doctrine. In my torts class, we discuss liability for blood and other products in hospitals. Many states have passed laws treating blood infusions as services, not products, to limit…
Skunk-scratch horror: Kidney donor patient killed by hidden rabies infection - The Mirror
A man has died of rabies after receiving a kidney transplant from a donor believed to have contracted the virus from a skunk scratch, in only the fourth transplant-transmitted rabies case in 50 years
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources18
Leaning Left3Leaning Right9Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution69% Right
Bias Distribution
- 69% of the sources lean Right
69% Right
L 23%
R 69%
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