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Virus found in pig heart used in human transplant HEALTH

By LAURAN NEERGAARD DOCTOR ON DUTY
AP Medical Writer Oranjestad
Researchers trying to learn Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
what killed the first person Tel. 527 4000
to receive a heart trans-
plant from a pig have dis- San Nicolas
covered the organ har- Imsan 24 hours
bored an animal virus but Tel.524 8833
cannot yet say if it played Women in Difficulties
any role in the man's death. PHARMACY ON DUTY
A Maryland man, 57-year- Oranjestad:
old David Bennett Sr., died Paradera tel. 588 6638
in March, two months after San Nicolas:
the groundbreaking experi- Centro Medico tel. 584 5794
Women in Difficulties
mental transplant. Universi- OTHER
ty of Maryland doctors said Dental Clinic 587 9850
Thursday they found an Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
unwelcome surprise — viral Urgent Care 586 0448
DNA inside the pig heart. Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
They did not find signs that +297 588 0539
Women in Difficulties
this bug, called porcine cy-
tomegalovirus, was caus- EMERGENCY
ing an active infection. Police 100
But a major worry about Oranjestad 527 3140
animal-to-human trans- Noord 527 3200
Sta. Cruz
527 2900
plants is the risk that it could San Nicolas 584 5000
introduce new kinds of in- In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, members of the surgical Police Tipline 11141
fections to people. team show the pig heart for transplant into patient David Bennett in Baltimore on Friday, Jan. 7, Ambulancia 911
Because some viruses are 2022. Fire Dept. 115
"latent," meaning they lurk Associated Press Red Cross 582 2219
without causing disease, "it TAXI SERVICES
could be a hitchhiker," Dr. company that provided ally quit functioning. living patients soon. It's not Taxi Tas 587 5900
Bartley Griffith, the surgeon the animal, declined to "What was the virus doing, clear how the pig virus will Prof. Taxi 588 0035
who performed Bennett's comment. if anything, that might have affect those plans.q Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
transplant, told The Associ- Griffith said his patient, caused the swelling in his Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
ated Press. while very ill, had been re- heart?" Griffith asked. "Hon- A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
Still, development is under covering fairly well from estly we don't know." Women in Difficulties
way of more sophisticated the transplant when one The reaction also didn't ap- TRAVEL INFO
tests to "make sure that we morning he woke up worse, pear to be a typical organ
don't miss these kinds of vi- with symptoms similar to rejection, he said, noting Aruba Airport 524 2424
American Airlines 582 2700
ruses," added Dr. Muham- an infection. Doctors ran the investigation still is un- Avianca 588 0059
mad Mohiuddin, scientific numerous tests to try to un- derway. Jet Blue 588 2244
director of the university's derstand the cause, and Meanwhile doctors at oth- Surinam 582 7896
xenotransplant program. gave Bennett a variety of er medical centers around Women in Difficulties
The animal virus was first re- antibiotics, antiviral medi- the country have been AID FOUNDATIONS
ported by MIT Technology cation and an immune- experimenting with animal
Review, citing a scientific boosting treatment. But the organs in donated human FAVI- Visually Impaired
presentation Griffith gave pig heart became swollen, bodies and are anxious to Tel. 582 5051
to the American Society of filled with fluid and eventu- attempt formal studies in Alcoholics Anonymous
Transplantation last month. Tel. 736 2952
For decades, doctors have Narcotics Anonymous
Tel. 583 8989
tried using animal organs Fundacion Contra Violencia
to save human lives with- Relacional Tel. 583 5400
out success. Bennett, who Centre for Diabetes
was dying and ineligible Tel. 524 8888
for a human heart trans- Child Abuse Prevention
plant, underwent the last- Tel. 582 4433
ditch operation using a Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Women in Difficulties
heart from a pig geneti- General Info
cally modified to lower the
risk that his immune system Phone Directory Tel. 118
would rapidly reject such a
foreign organ.
The Maryland team said the
donor pig was healthy, had
passed testing required by
the Food and Drug Admin-
istration to check for infec-
tions, and was raised in a
facility designed to prevent
animals from spreading
infections. Revivicor, the facebook.com/arubatoday/