Patient dies after contracting rabies from kidney transplant
A kidney transplant patient has died in Ohio after receiving an organ infected with rabies.
The recipient received care in Lucas County, Ohio, in December 2024, the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department told Paste BN in a statement. The patient was a Michigan resident and had received the organ from a donor who was not a resident of Ohio or Michigan, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) also shared in a statement.
An investigation conducted by Michigan DHHS, Ohio Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found no risk to the public in either state.
“There is no threat to the general public. 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,” Michigan DHHS spokesperson Lynn Sutfin told Paste BN. “Post exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided.”
No further information about the donor or recipient is being released, she said.
No risk to the public, say health officials
The University of Toledo Medical Center confirmed to local news station WTOL that it was the hospital where the transplant was performed on Wednesday. In a statement to the outlet, it said the patient had died in January after undergoing a deceased donor organ transplant in late 2024.
“Person-to-person transmission of rabies is extremely rare, though it has been documented in a very small number of cases involving organ transplantation,” the statement said. “UToledo Health is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all our patients. The health system has worked closely with public health authorities and has conducted a thorough review of this case, which found all best practices and standard safety protocols were appropriately followed.”
Kara Steele, a representative from Life Connection of Ohio, also spoke with WTOL, saying that a donor risk assessment interview and physical assessment are conducted before any organ donation.
“[It gathers] a potential donor’s comprehensive medical and social history on top of a physical assessment and lab work in order to ensure the safety of organs for transplantation,” Steele told WTOL. “If an organ procurement organization received word from a transplant center concerning any recipient issues, the organ procurement organization would reach out to additional centers that transplanted other organs from a donor hero to see how their recipients are doing and then report back.”
This marked the first known case of rabies in a human in Ohio since 1970, according to the Ohio Department of Health, and the first case in Michigan since 2009. Because the recipient was not an Ohio resident, this will be counted as a human rabies case in Michigan, not Ohio.
What is rabies?
Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease that primarily affects the central nervous system, according to the CDC. It can lead to severe brain damage and death in humans and some animals.
In the United States, more than 90% of reported cases of rabies in animals occur in wildlife. We most commonly associate animals like bats, raccoons and skunks or foxes with being carriers. Human cases are exceedingly rare in the U.S., where fewer than 10 deaths are reported each year and at least 7 out of 10 of those are the result of exposure to an infected bat.
Because rabies vaccines are a legal requirement for dogs and cats in the U.S., cases in dogs are rare in the states. Worldwide, however, dogs are responsible for more than 95% of the estimated 70,000 annual human deaths caused by rabies.
If you are exposed to rabies, immediate medical attention is required. A protocol called post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP is administered, which includes wound care, a dose of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG), and a series of four or five rabies vaccines. It is nearly 100% effective if administered quickly after exposure.
Organ donation and transplants are still safe
While a story like this is both scary and headline-catching, it’s important to put organ donation and its risks into perspective.
The United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the nonprofit organization that maintains and administers the only Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) in the United States. In 2024, it tracked more than 48,000 organ transplants performed.
In the same year, 27,759 kidney transplants were performed nationwide. Kidney transplant recipients have a 1-year survival rate of 93%-98% and a 5-year survival rate of 83%-92%, according to the Kidney Transplant Organization.
In Ohio, 26,498 kidney transplants have been done to date since 1988 and 1,293 were done in 2024 alone. So far this year, 206 kidney transplants have been performed in the state. Only one has been reportedly infected with rabies.
While UNOS has reported record donation numbers year-over-year, there is still far more need than supply. Currently, 104,668 people are waiting for a life-saving organ on the transplant waitlist. Of those, 58,660 people are active waiting list candidates, meaning they are eligible to immediately receive organ offers and undergo surgery. At least 16 people die a day waiting.
Organ donation is heavily regulated and overall safe. Like any medical procedure, there is the potential for surgery-related complications like bleeding and infection, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, common myths that often deter people, such as the misconception that doctors will not try as hard to save your life if you’re a donor or the idea that people can pay large amounts of money to jump to the top of the list, have been repeatedly debunked.