Man Dies Of Rabies After Organ Transplant [Weird News & Oddities]

A Michigan man died earlier this year after contracting rabies from an organ transplant — an extremely rare but not unheard of occurrence.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin did not specify what organ was transplanted at an unnamed Ohio hospital in December. The man died in January.

How this happened is unclear.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has guardrails to prevent “sick” organs from winding up in the organ bank. A screening process includes questions about changes in donors’ mental health states — one of the symptoms of rabies — and also testing for viruses and infections.

The CDC says fewer than 10 people a year die of rabies in the United States. While a rabies death due to an organ transplant is very rare, it has happened at least once before, in Maryland in 2013, when a patient died of rabies after getting a kidney transplant, according to the CDC.

The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, resulting in disease within the brain and then death. If a person is exposed to rabies, the disease can be prevented with a series of shots before symptoms occur. It is spread to humans through contact with saliva or blood from infected animals.

• Read more: Man Dies Of Rabies After Organ Transplant

Priceless Renoir For $12?

Pennsylvania antique collector Heidi Ma believes she stumbled on an original by the renowned French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir at a recent auction.

It only cost her $12.

The nude-style painting caught her eye before bidding started. On closer inspection after she bought it, she found a stamp on the back that indicated it had been brought to America by a widely respected art dealer.

Its value is immeasurable if it’s truly an original, never-before-seen Renoir painting. Markow is confident. She noted Renoir's distinctive signature on the painting, as well as markings and framing that match it to his period.

“Nude drawings by Renoir, especially from his early career, are exceptionally rare,” she said. “This find represents a significant addition to the artist’s known body of work and offers new insights into his artistic process.”

• Read more: $12 Auction Buy May Be Priceless Renoir

The Poop On $770K Tiffany Theft

Diamond earrings worth $770,000 are back in the Tiffany & Co. jewelry case after spending nearly two weeks in a suspected Orlando, Florida, thief’s intestines, according to police.

Jaythan Gilder, 32, of Texas, posed as an assistant to an NBA player and stole the jewelry from the Tiffany store at Mall at Millennia after being shown the items in a private room on Feb. 26, the Orlando Police Department said.

Gilder was pulled over hours after the theft and swallowed the earrings, police said. He passed the diamonds 12 days later at an Orlando hospital and they were cleaned and returned to the store, where a master jeweler reviewed the serial numbers and confirmed the items were stolen from the shop.

• Read more: $770K Earrings Thief Swallowed Found In His Poop, Returned To Tiffany

A Wildlife Triumph …

This is odd in a most delightful way: For the first time in a century, cougar cubs have been spotted living in the wild on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“It’s pretty exciting, considering this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lakes states,” the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Brian Roell said, referring to the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“It really shows that we have a unique place in Michigan where someone has a chance to see a wolf, a moose and a cougar in the wild,” he said. “It’s something that should be celebrated, that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this.”

• Read more: Cougar Cubs Seen For 1st Time In 100 Years

… And Another One

A rare litter of three endangered Florida panther kittens was recently checked out by wildlife biologists after their mother left the den to hunt.

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute biologists determined the gender of the kittens and then weighed, dewormed and microchipped them. Only about a third of Florida panther kittens survive, and the triplets’ mother lost last year’s litter, likely to a black bear.

“It’s tough being a panther; it’s even tougher being a Florida panther kitten!” the Fish & Wildlife Department wrote on Facebook

• Litter Of Endangered Panther Kittens Found