Donor-Derived Infection in Solid Organ Transplantation: An Emerging Public Health Issue With Diagnostic Challenges.

is a louse-borne intracellular bacterium that remains a neglected cause of bacteremia, bacillary angiomatosis, and infective endocarditis among individuals experiencing poverty. In October 2023, Health Canada notified Canadian organ transplantation programs of an outbreak of donor-derived infection. From March to August 2023, 5 cases of donor-derived disease were acquired in Alberta, Canada, from 3 deceased donors who had experienced homelessness. Similar cases recently occurred in the United States. In this article, we discuss strategies to screen organ donors and monitor transplant recipients for infection using epidemiologic risk factors, physical examination signs, and laboratory diagnostic tests. We review the limitations of existing diagnostic tests for and describe how these problems may be magnified in the organ transplantation context.