Donor in rabies cases had symptoms, wasn't tested

[Jazzy]

A 20-year-old Air Force recruit who died of rabies had symptoms of the disease but wasn't tested before his organs were transplanted to four patients, one of whom died of rabies nearly 18 months later, federal health officials said Friday.



The three other organ recipients are getting rabies shots and haven't displayed any symptoms. Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declined to speculate on their chances for survival.



This case is so unique and atypical that we cannot make predictions, said Richard Franka, acting leader of the CDC's rabies team.



Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, director of the agency's Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety, said investigators don't know why doctors in Florida didn't test the donor for rabies before offering his kidneys, heart and liver to people in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.



The man in Maryland who received the transplant died. The Defense Department said he was an Army veteran who had transplant surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.



A rabies test after a death can take four hours once the tissue reaches a lab in Atlanta, New York and California, Franka said. That's precious time, considering a donated kidney remains viable for less than 24 hours; other organs last for less than six.



The donor had seizures and encephalitis — a brain inflammation that can be caused by rabies — but those symptoms can also be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and other more common conditions.

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Even if they didn't test for rabies, why on earth use organs from a donor who died of viral or bacterial symptoms? Never should have happened and I smell a negligence lawsuit in the near future.