Lawsuit traces transplant death to hamster

A Massachusetts woman whose husband died after receiving an infected liver in a transplant has filed a lawsuit against PetSmart.

Nancy Magee's lawsuit claims the liver donor was infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis by a hamster she had purchased from PetSmart, WCVB-TV in Boston reported. When the donor died of a stroke, her organs were transplanted by medical teams unaware of the infection into three recipients, all of whom died.

Thomas Magee showed symptoms that included a high fever five days after his transplant in 2005, his wife said. He died a few weeks later.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International