Important Takeaways:

• An Iowa resident has died after contracting a frightening viral disease, similar to Ebola, that leaves victims bleeding from their eyeballs.
• The patient had returned to the U.S. from West Africa earlier this month bringing the disease known as Lassa Fever, rarely seen in the U.S., back with them, health officials said.
• The person was not sick while traveling meaning the risk to fellow airline passengers is ‘extremely low,’ officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
• Patients are not believed to be infectious before symptoms occur and the virus is not spread by casual contact.
• The patient, who has not been identified publicly, was placed in isolation in hospital at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center in Iowa City.
• On Monday, testing by the Nebraska Laboratory Response Network revealed the patient had died from Lassa Fever.
• If the results are confirmed, the Iowa case would be the ninth known case of Lassa Fever since 1969 in travelers returning to the U.S. from areas where the disease is found.
• The CDC is now assisting Iowa health officials to identify people who had been in contact with the patient after symptoms began. Those identified as being in close contact will be monitored for three weeks.
• Lassa Fever, which is caused by the Lassa virus, is a relatively common disease in West Africa, with between 100,000 and 300,000 cases diagnosed every year with around 5,000 deaths.

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