A Whitman woman is suing PetSmart Inc., a nationwide pet store chain, claiming her husband’s death resulted from an infection that can be traced to a pet hamster.
Thomas Magee, 54, died nearly a month after receiving a liver transplant. The suit claims Magee and two other transplant recipients died after receiving organs from a donor who was infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. The suit alleges the organ donor became infected after purchasing a pet hamster from the Warwick, R.I., PetSmart.
Nancy Magee, 51, is claiming negligence in her complaint filed in Boston District Court.
Magee, reached at her home, referred all calls to her attorney, Robert Bickelman.
“Our first obligation is to our client and her legal interests,” Bickelman said. “We don’t believe her interests are served in commenting at this time.”
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis is a disease commonly found in the common house mouse and is occasionally transferred to pet rodents at a breeding site or pet store, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
It can be transferred to a human if a person comes in contact with fecal droppings, urine, saliva or nesting materials.
While the infection cannot be transferred from human to human, the CDC is currently investigating a number of complaints of the infection being transferred during organ transplants, according to the CDC Web site.
According to published reports, Thomas Magee received the liver transplant on April 10, 2005, at Massachusetts General Hospital and began to experience symptoms, including a high fever and a rise in blood pressure, less than five days later.
The CDC states symptoms, which begin to show eight to 13 days after an infection, include fever, headache, nausea and an increase in liver enzymes. There is a less than 1 percent fatality rate.
Magee died on May 7, 2005. He was the father of two children.
By Paula M. Donnelly
Source - http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x577337759
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