The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department in Ohio announced that a Michigan resident passed away due to rabies following an organ transplant. 

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services verified this information, stating that the individual died in January after the transplant occurred in December.

“A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” the Michigan agency said.

The transplant recipient was receiving medical care in Lucas County, where the death took place. However, since the patient was a Michigan resident, it will be recorded as a rabies case from Michigan, not Ohio, as per the local health department. This marks the first human rabies case in Michigan since 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 

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 CDD made the rabies confirmation.

The organ donor was not a resident of Michigan or Ohio, Michigan officials added.  

“A multi-state public health investigation was conducted to determine the risk of exposure to the recipient and found no risk to the general public,” the Toledo health report said. 

The CDC explains that rabies is a viral disease that is deadly to humans if medical care is not received before symptoms start. It is usually spread to humans and pets through bites or scratches from an infected animal. 

Fewer than 10 deaths are reported each year among humans in the United States. 

Each year, 60,000 Americans receive medical care after a potential rabies exposure. 

“Post exposure preventative care, if appropriate, has been provided,” the Michigan agency said in its statement about this case.