() A Michigan resident died in January after getting rabies from an organ transplant, according to multiple media reports.

Though they were from Michigan, the patient was getting treatment in Lucas County, Ohio, in December 2024, the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department said in a statement to USA TODAY.

While the patient was a Michigan resident, the person from whom they got the organ was not from the same state or from Ohio, the newspaper reported.

Dr. Carl Schmidt, a deputy coroner with the Lucas County Coroner’s Office, told WTOL that it was a kidney transplant.

“The cause of death is rabies and complications,” Schmidt said. “The diagnosis was confirmed by sending tissue to the CDC.”

Rabies is a disease that primarily affects the central nervous system, leading to severe brain disease and potentially death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention writes. It is typically spread through bites or scratches from an infected animal.

The University of Toledo confirmed Wednesday in a statement to WTOL that the deceased donor organ transplant happened at its medical center.

“UToledo Health is committed to the safety and well-being of all our patients,” it said to WTOL. “The health system has worked closely with public health authorities and has conducted a thorough review of this case, which found all best practices and standard safety protocols were appropriately followed.”

It declined to further comment on the situation.

Fewer than 10 people a year die from rabies in the United States, the CDC writes. The Associated Press notes that getting rabies from organ transplants is rare but not unheard of. In 2013, a patient who received a kidney transplant died from rabies.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said there is no threat to the general public.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.