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WOW is right! Who would have ever thought this could happen? I'm sure that rabies isn't at the top of the differential diagnosis list when dealing with post-transplant problems.

I think that most lay-people don't consider certain situations as potential to transmit rabies (although I think most would head to the doctor if bitten by a bat). Just today, we started rabies vaccine on a child who had a bat in his room. Since there is no way of knowing whether the child had come in contact with the bat, and also whether the bat carried rabies, the physicians erred on the side of caution and started the vaccine series. While the likelihood of rabies exposure is low in this situation, rabies is 100% fatal.

Just some advice to other freepers, especially those in rural settings: DON'T take in wild dogs or cats, especially if they are sickly, and if you do come in contact with the saliva of a wild animal, call your physician immediately (rabies virus is transmitted via the saliva, typically by a bite, but if the saliva comes in contact with broken skin or a mucous membrane even without a bite, it can be passed on that way also). The recommendations are that rabies post exposure vaccines be given within 72 hours of exposure, and that ideally it should be started as soon after exposure as possible.