An Iowa resident who recently traveled to West Africa has died from a fever caused by the Lassa virus, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services said on Oct. 28.
The department said it believed that the person, whose name, age, and gender have not been disclosed, contracted the virus while in Africa.
The person was not sick while traveling back to Iowa, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Testing indicated Lassa fever was the cause. More testing is planned.
The person died at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center on Monday, the CDC said.
“This is a difficult time for the family of this individual and I want to express our deepest condolences,” Dr. Robert Kruse, Iowa’s medical director, said in a statement. “I want to assure Iowans that the risk of transmission is incredibly low in our state. We continue to investigate and monitor this situation and are implementing the necessary public health protocols.”
Like Ebola, the Lassa virus causes severe fever. It is typically transmitted to humans through exposure to food or items that have been contaminated by the urine or feces of infected rats.
Preliminary information suggests the person who died came into contact with rodents while in Africa, the CDC said. People who came into contact with the person after their symptoms began will be monitored for 21 days.
Countries in West Africa where the virus is endemic among rats include Benin, Ghana, and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization. Prevention measures center on hygienic practices to keep rodents from entering homes, including safe storage of food and keeping garbage away from houses.
About 15 percent of Lassa patients who require hospital care for severe symptoms die. Overall, about 1 percent of patients die.
Four out of five patients do not show any symptoms, while those who do usually suffer severe symptoms, which can include sore throat, abdominal pain, and bleeding from the mouth.
The World Health Organization says doctors can struggle to differentiate Lassa cases from those caused by similar viruses such as Ebola because the symptoms from Lassa are “so varied and non-specific.”
Some 100,000 to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever, and 5,000 deaths linked to the virus, occur in West Africa annually, according to the CDC’s Larissa fact sheet.
The Iowa case is the ninth known occurrence of Lassa fever among people who have traveled to the region and returned to the United States since 1969.
From The Epoch Times