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An Iowa resident died from an Ebola-like disease rarely seen in the United States, according to state officials.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced the death of an unidentified middle-aged individual who caught Lassa fever during a recent trip to West Africa on Monday (October 28), CNN reports. Preliminary tests were presumptively positive for Lassa fever, however, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still working to confirm the person's diagnosis.
Iowa State Medical Director Dr. Robert Kruse claimed that the current risk of transmission for Lassa fever is "extremely low" during the death announcement. An estimated range of 100,000 to 300,000 people are infected with Lassa fever in West Africa annually, where it is considered to be an endemic, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota, though only eight known cases, all of which were travel-related, were reported in the U.S.
Common symptoms of Lassa fever include fatigue, cough, sore throat and headache, while an estimated 20% of patients experience more severe symptoms including bleeding from the mouth, nose, eyes or other mucous membranes, seizures, vomiting or diarrhea, confusion, difficulty breathing and chest, neck or stomach pain, according to Cleveland Clinic.
The Lassa fever fatality rate is reported to be just over 1% annually, according to the World Health Organization.