A state health official announced that a Michigan resident has died receiving an organ transplant infected with rabies.
The patient received the transplant at an Ohio hospital in December and died the following month.
NBC reported that the organ donor is not a resident of Michigan or Ohio.
Health officials from Michigan, Ohio and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have collaborated to investigate the cause of death.
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The CDC’s Rabies Laboratory confirmed that the patients had contracted Rabies.
"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, Post-exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided," the HHS statement said.
Rabies is usually spread through the saliva or blood of infected animals like bats, raccoons or stray dogs. Symptoms include flu, such as fever and nausea.
Rabies is a life-threatening disease that is spread through the saliva and blood of infected animals such as bats, stray dogs, and raccoons.
On worsening, people may feel trouble swallowing, and some even hallucinate. Rabies turns out to be deadly if not treated appropriately.
Potential organ donors undergo screening for numerous diseases, but Rabies is not one of them. The test takes a prolonged time, and the infection is rare as well.
Previously, In 2013, a Kidney transplant patient died after receiving an organ who had Rabies in Florida.
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