Michigan resident dies from rabies after contracting virus from transplanted organ, health officials say – CBS Detroit
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A Michigan resident has died of rabies after receiving a transplanted organ in Ohio, the Toledo-Lucas County (Ohio) Health Department reported Wednesday.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the report, saying the patient died in January and the transplant happened in December.
“A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” the Michigan agency said.
The patient had received a transplanted organ and was under care in Lucas County, where they died. Because the person was a Michigan resident, it will be counted as a Michigan human rabies case rather than an Ohio one, the local health department said. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is Michigan’s first human case of rabies since 2009.
Lucas County and its county seat of Toledo are just south of the Michigan-Ohio state line. Authorities from both states were involved in the investigation; and the CDC made the rabies confirmation.
