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U.S. patient dies from rabies after organ transplant. Can this happen here? (globalnews.ca)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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A Michigan patient died of rabies earlier this year after contracting the virus through an organ transplant, health officials said.

[...]

“There is no threat to the general public. Health officials worked together to ensure that people, including health care providers, who were in contact with the Michigan individual were assessed for possible exposure to rabies,” a spokesperson for the Michigan health department told Global News in a Thursday email.

While organ screening is done for common diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis, they are not routinely tested for rabies before transplantation, according to the CDC.

Since rabies is extremely rare, standard donor screening prioritizes more common infections and conditions that could impact transplant recipients.

“If rabies is not clinically suspected, laboratory testing for rabies is not routinely performed, as it is difficult for doctors to confirm results in the short window of time they have to keep the organs viable for the recipient,” the CDC stated.

What about in Canada?

Testing for disease in organs is performed at the provincial program level following Canadian standards and regulations.

Health Canada’s Guidance on the Safety of Human Cells, Tissues, and Organs for Transplantation Regulations outlines the list of infectious diseases that are tested for in organ donations.

Diseases include HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and toxoplasmosis.

Rabies is not included on the list.

Global News reached out to Health Canada to confirm that rabies is not tested before organ donation, but did not hear back by the time of publication.

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