Breaking News: Iowa Resident Dies from Suspected Lassa Fever After Returning from West Africa
Iowa City, IA – A U.S. resident who recently returned from West Africa early this month has died after being hospitalized with a suspected case of Lassa fever, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Iowa Department of Health announced today. The patient, hospitalized in isolation at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center, died earlier this afternoon.
Preliminary testing by the Nebraska Laboratory Response Network lab indicated the illness was presumptively positive for Lassa fever, with confirmatory testing underway. If confirmed, this would mark the ninth known case of Lassa fever in a U.S. traveler returning from areas where the virus is common since 1969.
Lassa fever is a viral illness endemic to West Africa, transmitted to humans through contact with the urine or droppings of infected rodents. While rare in the united States, the virus can, in rare instances, spread person-to-person through direct contact with blood or body fluids, mucous membranes, or sexual contact. The CDC emphasizes the virus is not spread through casual contact and individuals are not considered infectious before symptoms appear.
Officials state the patient was not sick while traveling, minimizing the risk to fellow airline passengers. The CDC is assisting Iowa public health officials in determining how the patient contracted the virus, with early indications suggesting potential contact with rodents during their time in West africa.
The CDC is working with state officials to identify and monitor close contacts of the patient who may have been exposed after symptoms began; these individuals will be monitored for 21 days.
Approximately 100,000 to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever and 5,000 related deaths occur annually in West Africa. Further information will be released as it becomes available. More information about Lassa fever can be found on the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/lassa-fever/about/index.html.
