In 2011, a person died in FL and the kidneys, heart, and liver were harvested and sent to recipients in FL, GA, IL, and MD. Rabies was not suspected as the cause of death until the MD recipient died of the virus and an investigation was begun. The transplant occurred 15 months before the recipient died. This is much longer than the typical rabies incubation period of 1-3 months, but is consistent with prior case reports. The 3 other recipients are being evaluated. For complete news release see CDC Newsroom.

Federal public health officials say three people who received organs from a rabies-infected donor in 2011 are no longer in danger of coming down with the deadly disease. A donor recipient in Maryland died of rabies two months ago, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said Tuesday that the organ recipients in Florida, Georgia and Illinois have all completed post-exposure rabies treatment and are out of harm's way.