US reports fatal Lassa fever case

A resident of the US State of Iowa has died after contracting Lassa fever, state officials have announced.

This virus, categorized alongside Ebola in the group of viral hemorrhagic fevers, is rarely encountered in the United States, News.Az reports, citing CNN.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced the death Monday but did not release the person’s name and disclosed few details about them. Preliminary tests were presumptively positive for the virus, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to confirm the diagnosis.

The department said the person was middle-aged and had traveled to West Africa, where it is believed they contracted the virus.

The current risk of transmission in the United States is “incredibly low,” according to Iowa State Medical Director Dr. Robert Kruse.

Each year, about 100,000 to 300,000 people become infected with Lassa fever in West Africa, where the disease is endemic, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota. Since 1969, there have been only eight known cases in the US, all of them travel-related.

It’s even rarer for someone to die from Lassa fever. The disease has an overall fatality rate of just 1%, according to the World Health Organization.

In severe cases, the patient may have bleeding; difficulty breathing; pain in the chest, back and abdomen; and vomiting.

Someone with milder symptoms may develop a slight fever, feel tired or have a headache. Most people who are infected with Lassa virus have no symptoms at all.

Lassa fever can spread between humans but not through casual contact. Typically, the virus spreads only when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids.

Lassa fever most commonly spreads through the multimammate rat in West Africa. People can get sick after touching objects contaminated with rat feces or urine, or after eating food that’s been contaminated. Some people also get sick after eating the rats themselves, according to the CDC.

News.Az