Kidney Recipient Dies After Transplant From Organ Donor Who Had Rabies

December 11, 2025

two skunks

(New York Times) – Only four donors have transmitted rabies to organ transplant recipients since 1978, according to federal officials.

A man died of rabies after getting a kidney transplant from another man who died of the virus, only the fourth instance in nearly 50 years in which an organ donor passed the virus to a recipient, federal officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday that an Idaho man was on his rural property in October 2024 when a skunk approached him and scratched him on the shin. (Read More)