- From ProMED-mail
-
- New Jersey Man Dies of Lassa
Fever
By Tom Bell
Associated Press
9-4-4
-
- A New Jersey man who recently returned from a trip to
Liberia has died of an illness that had not been detected in the USA since
1989 but is common in West Africa, state health officials said
Thursday.
-
- The 38-year-old man from the Trenton area died of Lassa
fever, a virus spread through rat droppings or urine that can be passed
to other people through bodily fluids but not through causal contact,
officials
said.
-
- It is unlikely that other passengers on the man's flight
back from Africa or those who treated him were exposed, according to Dr.
Clifton Lacy, state health commissioner. An anti-viral drug is effective
in treating most cases of the disease, Lacy said. "It's only the
high-risk
individuals, really, who have the chance of getting the illness,'' said
Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, state chief epidemiologist.
-
- High risk is considered coming into contact with blood,
vomit or other bodily secretions from an infected person. It is believed
no employees at the hospital had high-risk contact, but some are still
being questioned, Bresnitz said.
-
- The man was admitted to the hospital after arriving at
the emergency room 24 Aug 2004. His condition deteriorated rapidly and
he died of massive kidney and liver failure on 28 Aug 2004, said Dr. Nick
Karabulut of Capital Health System Mercer Medical Center, where the man
was treated. "We are comfortable that this case will remain an
isolated
case,'' Karabulut said.
-
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
diagnosed the cause of death as Lassa fever Thursday afternoon. Authorities
said they were trying to identify the flight the man was on, which landed
in Newark, and that the CDC would attempt to contact those who were on
the plane. [CDC has since done that. - Mod.JW]. The man's family said he
did not have symptoms of the disease, such as diarrhea, vomiting or
coughing
while on the flight, so there is little chance any other passengers were
exposed, Bresnitz said.
-
- Between 100 000 and 300 000 people get Lassa fever in
West Africa each year, Lacy said. There are about 5000 deaths a year, but
most people get mild symptoms or none at all.
-
- http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared/health
- /ap/ap_story.html/Health/AP.V9061.AP-Rare-Illness.html
-
- ProMED-mail
-
- [The illness was first recorded in 1969 when two
missionary
nurses died in Nigeria. The cause was found to be Lassa virus, named after
the Nigerian town where the cases originated. There is an ongoing outbreak
of Lassa fever across the border from Liberia in Sierra Leone -- see 1st
ref. below.
-
- For additional information about the case in New Jersey,
please see the website of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior
Services
- http://www.state.nj.us/health/ or contact the health
department's hotline
- at 1-866-234-0964.
-
- For more information about Lassa fever, please see the
CDC website at
- http://www.cdc.gov.
-
- Additional information about Lassa fever testing is
available
on the CDC
- website at
- http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/lassaf.htm.
-
- CDC information about infection control is available
at
- http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads
- /postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases
-
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
