Pet rodents and fatal lymphocytic choriomeningitis in transplant patients

In April 2005, 4 transplant recipients became ill after receiving organs infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV); 3 subsequently died. All organs came from a donor who had been exposed to a hamster infected with LCMV. The hamster was traced back through a Rhode Island pet store to a distribution center in Ohio, and more LCMV-infected hamsters were discovered in both. Rodents from the Ohio facility and its parent facility in Arkansas were tested for the same LCMV strain as the 1 involved in the transplant-associated deaths. Phylogenetic analysis of virus sequences linked the rodents from the Ohio facility to the Rhode Island pet store, the index hamster, and the transplant recipients. This report details the animal trace-back and the supporting laboratory investigations.