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CDC confirms death of US traveler with Lassa fever
The CDC and New Jersey health authorities confirmed that a traveler who recently returned to the United States from Liberia died from Lassa fever.
The patient returned from Liberia via Morocco and JFK Kennedy International Airport in New York on May 17. According to the CDC, the patient did not have a fever upon his return. The next day, however, the patient went to a New Jersey hospital with symptoms of fever, sore throat and fatigue. The patient was discharged, but returned on May 21 as his symptoms intensified. He was relocated to a center equipped to treat hemorrhagic fevers, and he died there a few days later.
Samples sent to the CDC this morning tested positive for the disease.
The CDC said in a press release that Lassa fever is fatal in approximately 1% of cases, and that the risk to others from this most recent case is “extremely low.”
“Lassa fever is a viral disease common in West Africa but rarely seen in the United States. There has never been person-to-person transmission of Lassa fever documented in the United States,” the CDC said. “The New Jersey case is the sixth known occurrence of Lassa fever in travelers returning to the United States since 1969, not including convalescent patients.”
The last case of Lassa fever in the U.S. was reported in Minnesota in 2014.
Infected rodents typically carry the virus; transmission to humans occurs via contact with urine or droppings. Although rare, the CDC said the virus can be transmitted from person to person through contact with a sick person’s blood or bodily fluids.
The CDC said it is working with public health officials to identify individuals who had contact with the patient. Some of these contacts may be monitored for symptoms for 21 days.