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Infectious agents can be transmitted through transplantation of organs and tissue. A complete medical and social history of the donor and careful testing are crucial for evaluating the risk for such transmission.
In September 2011, the United Network for Organ Sharing notified the CDC of two patients who tested positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) about 6 months after receiving kidneys from the same deceased donor. The donor was reported to have tested negative for HCV antibody and HCV nucleic acid. However, when the two likely transmissions were investigated, the original nucleic acid test (NAT) result was found to have been positive; a repeat NAT at the tissue bank also yielded positive results. Musculoskeletal tissue, the liver, and a car…