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

Lindsay Taylor; Taryn Condon; Eric M Destrampe; Jennifer A Brown; Jeanette McGavic; Carolyn V Gould; Trudy V Chambers; Olga I Kosoy; Kristen L Burkhalter; Pallavi Annambhotla; Sridhar V Basavaraju; Jamel Groves; Rebecca A Osborn; John Weiss; Susan L Stramer; Elizabeth A Misch

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa738

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

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Mar 15;72(6):1051-1054. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa738.

Authors

Lindsay Taylor¹, Taryn Condon², Eric M Destrampe³, Jennifer A Brown², Jeanette McGavic², Carolyn V Gould⁴, Trudy V Chambers⁴, Olga I Kosoy⁴, Kristen L Burkhalter⁴, Pallavi Annambhotla⁵, Sridhar V Basavaraju⁵, Jamel Groves⁶, Rebecca A Osborn⁷, John Weiss⁸, Susan L Stramer⁶, Elizabeth A Misch¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
² Epidemiology Resource Center, Indiana State Department of Health, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
³ Department of Pathology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁴ Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
⁵ Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁶ American Red Cross Scientific Affairs, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.
⁷ Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
⁸ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wisconsin and American Red Cross Blood Services, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Powassan virus; blood transfusion; encephalitis; renal transplant.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Blood Transfusion
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne*
Encephalitis* / diagnosis
Encephalitis* / etiology
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne* / diagnosis
Humans
Kidney Transplantation* / adverse effects
Virus Diseases*

Grants and funding

CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States