It goes without saying that people should never mess with wild animals, period. On top of being territorial, undomesticated, and potentially violent, wildlife can contract rabies, a deadly disease with a very high mortality rate. That said, a man in Michigan who had not come into contact with any wild animals suddenly contracted rabies after receiving a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, the individual did not survive, and the CDC reports the disease was passed down to him from the donor, who had also been infected with rabies before passing away.
It all started when the donor got into a fight with a rabid skunk to save a kitten. The wild animal scratched the man, and the injury didn’t seem too serious until five weeks later, when his vitals had stopped working. Since he was a donor, several of his organs were removed for other patients in need, which ultimately led to the Michigan man getting the rabies-infected kidney and dying as well. It doesn’t stop there; three other people received cornea transplants from the same donor. Fortunately, the authorities acted fast and had the grafts removed, but still: what a traumatic experience to go through for the patients.
“I’m already terrified of rabies and had never even considered a transplant infection a possibility. That’s just so so awful for everyone involved,” remarked a Redditor. “What a nightmare scenario for the people who got the cornea transplants. That’s got to be stressful,” adds another. A third commenter chimed in with advice that could have prevented any of this from happening: “If any animal shows ‘predatory aggression’ towards you or your pet and it was not provoked or in a situation where it couldn’t run away, go get a rabies vaccine. Kinda wild this isn’t common knowledge.“
Clearly, it wasn’t the donor’s fault for getting hurt while trying to save the kitten from a skunk, but if anyone had to choose between his life and a cat’s, the answer would be obvious. Rabies, even just the threat of an animal being rabid, should never be taken lightly. And just as importantly, “This is great example of why proper [medical] history is just as important as testing. Horrible outcome,” as one commenter puts it.
