ANN ARBOR, MI — A woman who received a double lung transplant at the University of Michigan died two months later after contracting COVID-19 from the donor’s lungs, according to a study in the American Journal of Transplantation.

Doctors performed COVID-19 testing within 48 hours of acquiring the organs for transplant and testing came back negative, according to the study.

CT scans of the lungs showed no evidence to suggest COVID-19, and nose and throat swabs were negative, Kaul said.

The lung recipient was tested for COVID-19 12 hours before the transplant and her test came back negative, the study notes.

The recipient then received an initial positive COVID-19 test, so doctors checked residual fluid they had available from deep in the donor lungs, which was obtained prior to acquiring the organs, and that tested positive, as well, Kaul said.

She was still COVID-19 positive 60 days after the transplant, the study states.

Four days after the transplant operation, a thoracic surgeon tested positive for COVID-19, according to the study.