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.
According to CBS News, the patient had received the transplanted organ in Lucas County, which is where they died.
As the patient was a Michigan resident, it will be considered a Michigan human rabies case, the outlet stated, citing the local health department.
This is thought to be the state’s first human case of rabies since 2009, CBS News added, referencing the Centers for Disease Control (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.”
“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of human and animal health experts, fewer than 10 human deaths are reported each year in the U.S. While rabies is uncommon in humans, three out of four Americans live in a community where raccoons, skunks, or foxes carry this deadly disease,” the government agency stated.
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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 Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, the CDC, CDC’s Rabies Laboratory and the Ohio Department of Health didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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