Michigan Patient Dies from Rabies After Contracting Disease Through Transplanted Organ

The person received the transplant at a hospital in Ohio in December, before they died the following month, health officials have confirmed

A Michigan resident has died after contracting rabies through a transplanted organ, health officials have confirmed.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) noted that the person received the transplant at a hospital in Ohio in December, before they died the following month.

“I can confirm that a Michigan resident died of rabies in January 2025. The person was a recent organ transplant recipient, and a public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said in an email.

“The organ transplant was conducted at an Ohio hospital in December 2024. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services worked closely with the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the investigation,” the statement added.

The patient and the type of organ that was transplanted have not been identified.

“The CDC Rabies Laboratory made the rabies confirmation. The organ donor was not a Michigan or Ohio resident. No additional information is being provided about the resident or the donor,” the statement continued.

“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. Post exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided,” it concluded.

The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department added in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, “The recipient received care in Lucas County, Ohio, where they died. A multi-state public health investigation was conducted to determine the risk of exposure to the recipient and found no risk to the general public.”

“Because the recipient was a Michigan Resident, this will not reflect as an Ohio human rabies case. No Lucas County residents have contracted or died of rabies,” the health department added.

A CDC spokesperson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, “Once doctors believed the recipient could have rabies, public health officials learned the organ donor was exposed to a wild animal in Idaho five weeks before death.”

“The donor did not seek medical care at that time, later died suddenly without traditional rabies symptoms, and public health officials were not notified,” they added.

The spokesperson also said that “doctors implanted corneal grafts from the donor’s eyes into three different patients in three states,” adding that the “CDC worked with Missouri health officials to intercept a fourth corneal graft before it could be implanted into a Missouri resident—even before rabies was confirmed in the donor.”

“All corneal tissue recipients have gotten post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) shots to prevent rabies and are currently healthy,” the spokesperson continued.

This is thought to be the state’s first human case of rabies since 2009, CBS News reported, referencing the CDC.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Dog bites and scratches cause 99% of the human rabies cases, and can be prevented through dog vaccination and bite prevention.”

“Rabies spreads to people and animals via saliva, usually through bites, scratches, or direct contact with mucosa (e.g. eyes, mouth, or open wounds). Once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is virtually 100% fatal,” WHO also noted.

According to the CDC, “Rabies is a rare but serious public health concern in the United States. Before 1960, several hundred people died of rabies each year.” 

Organ donor eligibility “is determined through a series of questions posed to family and contacts, physical examination, and blood testing for evidence of organ dysfunction and selected bloodborne viral pathogens and syphilis. Laboratory testing for rabies is not performed,” the CDC said on its website in a 2004 report.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s Rabies Laboratory and the Ohio Department of Health didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.