Key Highlights
- Further investigation revealed that the donor had become infected with the fatal virus after saving a kitten from a skunk.
- The unnamed patient, from Michigan, received the donor’s kidney in December 2024, and later developed severe symptoms that prompted hospitalization and "invasive" procedures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
- He reportedly experienced fever, tremors, difficulty swallowing and fear of water and died 51 days after the transplant.
- ‘SILENT KILLER’ PARASITIC DISEASE SPREADING ACROSS MULTIPLE US STATES, EXPERTS WARN An Idaho man reportedly died from rabies after getting scratched by a skunk.
- (iStock) The CDC said the donor, whose donated tissue went to three other recipients, was infected with the silver-haired bat variant of rabies, suggesting the skunk had been infected by a bat. Records revealed that the organ donor, from Idaho, was scratched on the shin while fending off a skunk that displayed "predatory aggression" six weeks before his death.
