Michigan Man Dies of Rabies After Kidney Transplant

A Michigan man died last month after contracting rabies through a kidney transplant from an Idaho donor who had been scratched by a skunk weeks earlier, health officials confirmed in a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The case, which occurred in December 2024, marks the fourth known instance of rabies transmission via organ donation in the United States since 1978.

The donor, an unidentified man from rural Idaho, encountered the skunk in late October 2024 while holding a kitten in an outbuilding on his property. The animal approached aggressively, prompting him to fight it off in a struggle that left the skunk unconscious. He sustained a bleeding scratch on his shin but believed he had not been bitten, according to family accounts provided during the subsequent investigation.

Approximately five weeks later, in early December, the donor developed symptoms including hallucinations, a stiff neck, confusion, and difficulty swallowing and walking. Two days after these signs appeared, he was found unresponsive at home, likely due to cardiac arrest. Paramedics resuscitated him and transported him to a hospital, where he never regained...