One of the greatest gifts any person can give another is one of their internal organs. Whether it happens after death or, as a living gesture of love for another human being, it's a gesture of enormous life-giving generosity. Unless the donated organ happens to be infested with rabies.
According to Michigan-based television station WTOL11, an individual from Lucas County survived a kidney transplant, only to be taken down by a scorching case of rabies, contracted from the kidney that was donated to them. The diagnosis was confirmed after tissue samples from the organ recipient were sent to the Centers for Disease Control for examination.
From WTOL11:
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services worked with the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the case, marking the first human case of rabies in Michigan since 2009. The testing was conducted in the CDC's Rabies Lab.
There have been no reported human cases of rabies in Ohio since 1970, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
The CDC, along with state health departments, confirmed that no additional individuals are at risk of rabies exposure.
According to the University of Toledo Medical Center, the organ recipient died in January of this year. How the donated kidney became infected with the deadly disease and, how it was missed in organ screening, is a mystery. Understandably, all the organizations involved in the transplant are playing this one close to their chests.
No doubt there'll be more on this ugly bit of medical history to read about in the days to come.
Previously:
• California teacher dies from rabies after a wild bat bites her in the classroom
• The mysteries of rabies
• Old British rabies paranoia films
