A patient in the care of the University of Toledo Medical Center died after contracting rabies from an organ transplant, a coroner’s office official said Wednesday.

The unidentified patient died in January, UT spokesman Tyrel Linkhorn said in a statement.

“That patient underwent a deceased donor organ transplant in late 2024 at UTMC,” Mr. Linkhorn said. “Person-to-person transmission of rabies is extremely rare, though it has been documented in a very small number of cases involving organ transplantation.”

Lucas County Deputy Coroner Dr. Carl J. Schmidt confirmed that the cause of death was rabies and complications. 

“The diagnosis was confirmed by sending tissue to the CDC,” he said. “The virus was transmitted via a kidney transplant. We don’t know the provenance of the donated kidney, but I do know the agencies in charge of tissue transplantation did their own investigation.”

Mr. Linkhorn said the UToledo Health system “conducted a thorough review of this case, which found all best practices and standard safety protocols were appropriately followed.”

Details, including the patient’s age and residence, were not available.

“Out of respect for the privacy of our patient and their family, we will not share any additional details at this time,” he said.

First Published March 26, 2025, 9:41 p.m.