United States: Rabies infected the recipient following their organ transplant, which took place in a Michigan hospital in December, according to the state health department declaration on Wednesday. 

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According to Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, “A public health investigation determined they contracted rabies through the transplanted organ,” NBC News reported. 

According to the statement from the department, the patient underwent the transplant at an Ohio hospital in December before passing away in January. 

The release failed to provide any details about the receiver’s identity along with the exact nature of the transplanted organ. 

The donor who donated the organ was not registered as either a Michigan resident or an Ohio resident. 

Patient dies from rabies after organ transplant from infected donor:
A Michigan resident has died of rabies after receiving an organ transplant.

The patient, who received the transplant at an Ohio hospital in December 2024, died of the fatal virus in J… https://t.co/rrCowWNdGF

— Elwin Sidney (@ElwinSidney) March 27, 2025

Sutfin stated that Michigan health officials, along with Ohio department employees and the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, jointly investigated the patient’s fatal condition. 

The Rabies Laboratory at the CDC diagnosed the infection. 

According to the statement, “Health officials worked together to ensure that people, including health care providers, who were in contact with the Michigan individual were assessed for possible exposure to rabies,” NBC News reported. 

“Post-exposure preventive care, if appropriate, has been provided,” they added. 

The department stated it would not release further information to NBC News. 

The agencies responsible for comments, including the Ohio Health Department and CDC, stayed silent when approached for interviews. 

The disease spreads from animals to humans through direct contact with their saliva or blood, which comes from bats, raccoons, skunks, and stray dogs. 

People may not recognize immediate rabies infection because the early signs mimic flu symptoms, which include headaches followed by fever and nausea. 

When rabies advances in patients, it causes swallowing problems, and they also experience heavy drooling along with hallucinations. 

Failure to obtain prompt medical care after being scratched or bitten by an infectious animal will result in death due to rabies. 

Data from the CDC indicates that the annual rabies deaths have fallen below 10 since 1960 despite previous numbers of at least 500 mortalities annually before that period. 

The United States screens potential organ donors for viral infections as well as bacterial diseases along with other pathogens, yet rabies testing is usually excluded due to slow results and minimal person-to-person occurrence of the infection. 

United States: According to an expert report, a diet consisting of plant foods and including minimal ultra-processed foods and moderate fish and dairy amounts leads people to avoid developing chronic disease until age 70, according to new study findings. 

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According to Nature Medicine research, which revealed diet information from more than 105,000 middle-aged adults, less than 9 percent of these individuals would reach age 70 with normal cognitive functioning, no major health problems, and standard mobility abilities. 

Participation in research demonstrated that maintaining nutritious eating choices would help individuals reach their life goals. 

Research on healthy aging diets involved eight different food plans, including Mediterranean diets alongside strictly plant-based diet options and diet plans designed for lowering blood pressure and inflammation control. 

According to the study author, Marta Guasch-Ferré, an adjunct associate professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “What most of these diets had in common was that they were rich in fruit and vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fat, nuts, legumes and then low in processed meat, sugars and trans fat,” NBC News reported. 

Research has demonstrated that eating diets loaded with fruits and vegetables leads to reduced cholesterol profiles and blood pressure and decreased probabilities of heart disease along with cancer. 

What more are the experts stating? 

The majority of studies have failed to analyze the complete life impact on aging individuals, according to Guasch-Ferré. 

“It’s not just about living longer but also maintaining good health in the later stages of life,” she added. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. uses his platform to assert that Americans should stop using food additives and eating processed foods because these practices are causing the United States to experience increasing rates of chronic diseases. 

A 30-year examination involving people aged 39 to 69 was conducted during the time period from 1986 through 2016. 

The group utilized in the study came from healthcare databases, which implies that they might represent healthier individuals than usual populations. 

The researchers conducted assessments for mental and physical capability alongside screening evaluations for 11 various chronic illnesses, including cancer and diabetes, together with stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. 

United States: A 10% increase in tuberculosis-related infections was reported by WHO on Monday after the disease spread further throughout European children and demands immediate public health action. 

WHO statistics for their European region indicate that more than 7,500 children under 15 years of age developed Tuberculosis in 2023 compared to a previous year’s total of 7,850 cases. 

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“The worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” as stated Hans Henri Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe. 

Regional TB advisor Askar Yedilbayev from the WHO European region stated in an interview that the increased number of total cases might represent better diagnostic capabilities, Reuters reported. 

Higher movement between Russia and Ukraine during wartime has amplified the tuberculosis burden in these two nations with the largest disease rates in the area. 

Rising cases among the children 

TB cases among children under 15 years old composed 4.3% of total infections as established by the joint WHO-European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control report concerning the European Union. 

Yedilbayev emphasized the “worrisome scenario” regarding this data because the teenage population has shown a continuous upward trend in TB cases in the previous three years. 

WHO warned that international donor reductions in support would eliminate the progress made toward controlling TB infections in developing nations. 

WHO asserts that reducing funding diminishes non-EU country TB programs, resulting in the emergence of hard-to-treat bacteriological strains, Reuters reported. 

The decrease in resources has resulted in workforce reductions within the local diagnostic and treatment teams, according to Yedilbayev.