An incredibly rare medical situation arose recently where an organ donor had transmitted his rabies infection to several recipients, without knowing that he had it in the first place.
This tragic incident gave rise to the death of a kidney recipient, while cornea graft recipients were treated successfully, sources shared. The donor was identified as 59-year-old James Martin, who hailed from Idaho and had contracted the disease from a skunk scratch but was misdiagnosed as having heart issues when he collapsed and died in 2024.
The kidney recipient was identified as grandad, 76, from Michigan, Barney Kurowicki, who was on dialysis for nearly two years. As a result, he developed serious neurological symptoms like tremors, confusion, weakness, and hydrophobia, and tragically passed away five weeks after this transplant.