Posted on July 1, 2004 at 2:30 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The CDC confirmed today the first reported cases of rabies transmission through solid organ transplantation. Four organs were harvested from a donor in Texas on May 4. Two kidneys and a liver were transplanted into three patients in Texas. Those patients died from rabies in June.

The donor’s lungs were sent to UAB and transplanted into a recipient. The UAB patient died May 4 during surgery from known complications of lung transplantation (not from rabies). UAB Hospital followed all established protocols for the evaluation of organs for transplant. The donor lungs were deemed to be in good condition and viable for transplantation.

Fewer than 20 employees from UAB Hospital were involved in the procurement, surgery and post-operative support of the procedure. All employees used universal precautions including gloves, mask, surgical gown and face protection. The risk of infection to employees is considered extremely low. Hospital administrators are communicating with those staff members now to be sure there were no unreported incidents of exposure (i.e., needle sticks).