Man dies of rabies from donated kidney

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The donor in this case, an Idaho man, had been found unresponsive after a presumed cardiac arrest in early December 2024, around five weeks after being scratched by a skunk in late October.

No one suspected the involvement of rabies at the time. So as the man was an organ donor, his heart, lungs, left kidney, and corneas were removed.

Around five weeks after receiving the kidney, the Michigan patient developed symptoms consistent with rabies. Doctors sent samples of his saliva, skin, and other fluids to the CDC, which detected rabies virus RNA in some of the samples.

Because the recipient had no history of animal exposure, investigators turned back to the donor. A stored serum sample from the Idaho man tested negative for rabies antibodies, but an archived biopsy of his kidney was positive for rabies virus RNA, confirming the organ as the source of infection.

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