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Post by Sher on May 24, 2005 12:58:36 GMT -5
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island -- An organ donor who was exposed to a common rodent virus, possibly from a hamster, passed the disease to four transplant patients, three of whom died, officials said yesterday.
It was believed to be only the second documented case in which the viral infection LCMV was transmitted through an organ transplant.
The dead were a liver transplant recipient and a double-lung recipient from Massachusetts and a kidney transplant recipient from Rhode Island. They died in late April and early May of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, which is associated with exposure to rodent waste, health officials said.
Another Rhode Island patient who received a kidney from the organ donor is recovering.
The infection was traced to a female donor from Rhode Island who died of unrelated causes. Officials said that at least one pet in the woman's home - a hamster, bought at a pet shop in Warwick - tested positive for LCMV.
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