The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Iowa Department of Health are investigating a suspected case of Lassa fever, which was diagnosed in an Iowa resident who returned to the United States from West Africa early in October.
The patient was not sick while traveling so the risk to fellow airline passengers is extremely low. The patient was hospitalized in isolation at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center when they died on October 28. Testing by the Nebraska Laboratory Response Network lab found the illness was presumptively positive for Lassa fever and confirmatory testing is planned.
If confirmed, the Iowa suspected case would be the ninth known occurrence since 1969 of Lassa fever in travelers returning to the United States from areas where Lassa fever is commonly found.
CDC is supporting state and local public health officials from Iowa who are working to learn more about how the patient may have contracted Lassa fever. Early information suggests the patient may have had contact with rodents while in West Africa. CDC and other federal agencies have offered federal assistance to Iowa. People with Lassa fever can only transmit the illness when they have active symptoms and CDC is working with state public health officials to identify people who had contact with the patient after the patient's symptoms began. Those identified as close contacts of the patient will be monitored for 21 days.
