Doctors successfully implanted a pig kidney into a critically ill New Jersey woman, complementing this with a groundbreaking procedure to stabilize her deteriorating heart.

Lisa Pisano faced a dire situation with both heart and kidney failure, making her ineligible for conventional transplants and running out of treatment options. However, the innovative medical team at NYU Langone Health formulated a unique strategy. First, they inserted a mechanical pump to sustain her heart function, followed by a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig just days later.

According to NYU Langone Health, the 54-year-old patient is recovering well. 

“All I want is the opportunity to have a better life,” she said. “After I was ruled out for a human transplant, I learned I didn’t have a lot of time left. My doctors thought there may be a chance I could be approved to receive a gene-edited pig kidney, so I discussed it with my family and my husband. He has been by my side throughout this ordeal and wants me to be better.”

To date, there have been no documented instances of anyone with a mechanical heart pump receiving an organ transplant of any kind. It is only the second transplant of a gene-edited pig kidney into a living person, and the first with the thymus combined.

“It is incredible to consider the scientific achievements that have led to our ability to save Lisa’s life and what we are endeavoring to do as a society for everyone in need of a lifesaving organ,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the transplant surgery and who is the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery; chair of the Department of Surgery; and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute. “This could not have been done without the dedication and skill of the many talented physicians, researchers, nurses, health administrators, and perioperative care teams at NYU Langone Health, as well as the numerous pioneers who came before us.”

Almost 104,000 individuals are awaiting organ transplants, with 89,360 of them in need of a kidney. While approximately 808,000 people in the United States suffer from end-stage kidney disease, only around 27,000 received a transplant last year.

Two separate surgical teams performed the procedures over the course of nine days. In the first procedure, surgeons implanted a heart pump on April 4, 2024. 

Then, the second procedure, a xenotransplant (transplant of an organ between different species), was completed on April 12. 

According to NYU Langone Health, Pisano had high levels of harmful antibodies to human tissue but not to gene-edited pig organs. While it would have taken years to find a match for a human kidney, an investigational gene-edited pig kidney and pig thymus gland were available and matched. 

“Without the possibility of a kidney transplant, she would not have been eligible as a candidate for an LVAD due to the high mortality in patients on dialysis with heart pumps,” said Dr. Moazami. “This unique approach is the first time in the world that LVAD surgery has been done on a dialysis patient with a subsequent plan to transplant a kidney. The measure for success is a chance at a better quality of life and to give Lisa more time to spend with her family.”

Pisano received a kidney from a genetically modified pig that doesn’t produce a specific sugar called alpha-gal. Previous research at NYU Langone showed that removing this sugar prevents the body from rejecting the organ right away. To further reduce the chance of rejection, the pig’s thymus gland, which helps train the immune system, was placed near the kidney. Together, the modified kidney and thymus tissue are called a UThymoKidney. United Therapeutics Corporation handled the gene editing, pig breeding, and creation of the UThymoKidney used in this procedure. No other unapproved devices or drugs were used.

“By using pigs with a single genetic modification, we can better understand the role one key stable change in the genome can have in making xenotransplantation a viable alternative,” said Dr. Montgomery. “Since these pigs can be bred and do not require cloning like more-complex gene edits, this is a sustainable, scalable solution to the organ shortage. If we want to start saving more lives quickly, using fewer modifications and medications will be the answer.”

»Related: Navy veteran receives second ever GM pig heart transplant

For 155 days, authorities, family, and volunteers have searched fervently for Iowa livestock hauler, David Schultz, who went missing on November 21. On Wednesday afternoon, his body was found in a Sac County field, near where his semi-tractor trailer loaded with hogs was discovered over five months ago in the western part of the state. 

Iowa’s Division of Criminal Justice stated that shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Sac County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an unidentified individual who reported that he had discovered a body in his field. 

The body was found near the intersection where Schultz’s tractor-trailer rig was located in November. The body is being transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner for a forensic autopsy.  

In a Facebook post early Thursday, Schultz’s wife, Sarah, said, “Even though it is not the ending we wanted, i thank god we now know where David is because the 155 day of not knowing was pure hell. We still have a lot of unanswered questions but at least one big one was answered and we know he is with jesus. God bless!”

Schultz, 53 years old and the father of 10-year-old twin boys, went missing before Thanksgiving after leaving his home on Nov. 20 and picking up a load of pigs in the Eagle Grove area.

Schultz was seen at 11:15 p.m. at a truck stop east of Fort Dodge on Highway 20 and on a Department of Transportation camera on Highway 20 headed west before his truck was found turned off but not pulled off the side of the road with pigs on board. Mysteriously, the truck was also facing northbound when it should have been facing southbound. 

The United Cajun Navy assisted in the search, launching volunteers on over 100,000 acres in and around Sac County. 

Jake Rowley of the United Cajun Navy told the Sioux City Journal that Shultz’s body was found within an area that authorities said they’d already searched. 

United Parcel Service is known for delivering a myriad of packages, but one Wisconsin driver made a special delivery earlier this month: a Holstein calf. 

Cue all the “special delivery” jokes now.

Jon Strnad was driving up a hill in the town of Seymour when he saw a cow in labor in the pasture of KJ Farms, a small dairy operation. With a farming background, Strnad recognized that the heifer was struggling. 

“The calf was halfway out, still had the sack over its face. It reminded me of growing up on the farm,” Strnad told reporters with WFRV. “Looked like she needed some help, and I couldn’t drive by without helping.”

The UPS driver jumped the fence in full uniform, running to assist the cow. 

“Gently, I grabbed her front legs and took a little pull, and she came. And I tried to break her fall,” he said of the calf. “She’s laying there, and she wasn’t moving. So I went inside of her mouth, tried to get that slimy stuff out. And then I’m rubbing her head, and then all of a sudden she came alive.”

The farmer’s wife, Tracy Gagnow, opened her door to a bloody-handed Strnad, who shared the details of assisting the dairy cow. 

When Gagnow called her husband, Kurt, she told them that the UPS man had just delivered a calf. 

“He did! What color box was it in?” Kurt had jokingly responded back.

“You always hope for the best, but you always have in the back of your mind, ‘We might lose this one,’” Strnad said. “I’ve seen that scenario play out too many times where it doesn’t end well for the calf.”

According to multiple news sources, the calf was born two weeks early. However, the calf has been dubbed “Joni” after her rescuer, Jon. 

The Gagnows will take Joni to the Outagamie County Fair in June, where the calf’s story will continue. 

Today, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service unveiled a Federal Order introducing measures to protect the livestock industry against highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. 

The Federal Order may be viewed here and is effective on Monday, April 29, 2024. Its highlights include:

Mandatory testing for interstate movement of dairy cattle

• Prior to interstate movement, dairy cattle are required to receive a negative test for Influenza A virus at an approved National Animal Health Laboratory Network laboratory
• Owners of herds in which dairy cattle test positive for interstate movement will be required to provide epidemiological information, including animal movement tracing
• Dairy cattle moving interstate must adhere to conditions specified by APHIS
• As will be described in forthcoming guidance, these steps will be immediately required for lactating dairy cattle, while these requirements for other classes of dairy cattle will be based on scientific factors concerning the virus and its evolving risk profile

Mandatory Reporting

• Laboratories and state veterinarians must report positive Influenza A nucleic acid detection diagnostic results (PCR or genetic sequencing) in livestock to USDA APHIS
• Laboratories and state veterinarians must report positive Influenza A serology diagnostic results in livestock to USDA APHIS

The USDA has identified spread between cows within the same herd, spread from cows to poultry, spread between dairies associated with cattle movements, and cows without clinical signs that have tested positive.

On April 16, APHIS microbiologists identified a shift in an H5N1 sample from a cow in Kansas that could indicate that the virus has an adaptation to mammals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted further analysis of the specimen sequence, which did not change their overall risk assessment for the general public because the substitution has been seen previously in other mammalian infections and does not impact viral transmission. Additionally, APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories found H5N1 in a lung tissue sample from an asymptomatic cull dairy cow that originated from an affected herd and did not enter the food supply. 

The novel movement of H5N1 between wild birds and dairy cows requires further testing and time to develop a critical understanding to support any future courses of action. 

“While we are taking this action today, it is important to remember that thus far, we have not found changes to the virus that would make it more transmissible to humans and between people,” writes the USDA. “While cases among humans in direct contact with infected animals are possible, our partners at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe that the current risk to the public remains low.”

To maximize understanding and research on H5N1 in dairy cattle, on April 21, APHIS made publicly available 239 genetic sequences from the U.S. H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b influenza virus recently found in samples associated with the ongoing HPAI outbreak in poultry and wild birds, and the recent H5N1 event in dairy cattle.

APHIS has also offered virus samples to interested researchers to facilitate epidemiological study.

“Increasing our understanding of this disease and how it spreads is critical to stopping it,” writes the USDA. “This is why APHIS is urging dairy cattle producers and those who work in or with the industry to share epidemiological information from affected farms, even if they are not planning to move cattle interstate.”

APHIS further urges producer participation in public health assessments to continue to confirm worker safety and monitor for any potential changes in the virus that could impact transmissibility.   

Milk safety recommendations include pasteurization 

In addition, partners in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released an update on the ongoing work to ensure the continued effectiveness of the federal-state milk safety system. It is important to emphasize that, based on the information and research available to us at this time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA believe that the commercial milk supply is safe because of both the pasteurization process and the required diversion or destruction of milk from sick cows.

Pasteurization has continuously been proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses in milk. The FDA and USDA continue to work closely to collect and evaluate additional data and information specific to avian influenza in dairy cattle and to support state counterparts as this emerging disease in dairy cattle is managed.  

As USDA continues to take steps to protect the health of livestock, the Department continues to work closely with federal partners at the CDC on protecting the health of people and the FDA on protecting the safety of the food supply. The U.S. government is committed to addressing this situation with urgency.