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Patients scramble to reverse surgeries after learning rabies killed their tissue donor
The CDC tested donated eye tissue after a kidney recipient developed rabies symptoms, and one cornea sample came back positive.
- The CDC traced potentially rabies-infected cornea grafts across four states after discovering a donor's tissues were distributed, launching an urgent search for recipients including Inocencio Miramontes.
- Donor James Martin died in December 2024, initially attributed to a heart attack, but officials later determined he had been scratched by a rabid skunk more than a month before his death.
- Surgeon Dr. Huck Holz received an urgent CDC call while skiing in Northern California, while patient Joseph Bird faced unprecedented medical decisions on experimental rabies immunoglobulin injection.
- The CDC established a new policy in June 2025 requiring eye banks to defer donors with unclear animal contact history, preventing tissue recovery when the animal's status remains unconfirmed.
- Rabies transmission remains extremely rare, occurring in roughly one in 40 million cases, and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network board of directors meets November 19 to discuss further safety protocols.
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