Powassan Virus Infection Likely Acquired Through Blood Transfusion Presenting as Encephalitis in a Kidney Transplant Recipient

A kidney transplant patient without known tick exposure developed encephalitis 3 weeks after transplantation. During the transplant hospitalization, the patient had received a blood transfusion from an asymptomatic donor later discovered to have been infected with Powassan virus. Here, we describe a probable instance of transfusion-transmitted Powassan virus infection.

Automated summary

A kidney transplant patient developed encephalitis 3 weeks after transplantation, possibly due to transfusion-transmitted Powassan virus infection from an asymptomatic blood donor.