Posted on 09/03/2004 3:01:43 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey man who recently returned from a trip to Liberia has died of an illness that had not been detected in the United States since 1989 but is common in West Africa, state health officials said Thursday.
The man 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. The 38-year-old man from the Trenton area was not identified by authorities.
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 Aug. 24. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died of massive kidney and liver failure on Aug. 28, said Dr. Nick Karabulut of Capital Health System Mercer Medical Center, where the man was treated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta diagnosed the cause of death as Lassa fever Thursday afternoon.
"We are comfortable that this case will remain an isolated case," Karabulut said.
Authorities said they were still 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.
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 5,000 deaths a year, but most people get mild symptoms or none at all.
According to the Official CDC Health Advisory dated September 3, 2004:
"The patient left Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Astraeus Flight 72, which departed 11:15 pm on August 23, 2004 and arrived at Gatwick Airport in London, England. He then traveled on Continental Flight 29, which departed London Gatwick Airport on August 24 and arrived in Newark, N.J., at 3:20 pm on August 24."
"The man 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."
Geez, what was he doing to get this disease? Yuck.
Wonder what type of person was he intimate with?
UPDATED: 2:47 pm EDT September 3, 2004
"TRENTON, N.J. -- Notices were issued to NJ Transit riders and employees Friday to inform them that the Mercer County man who died of an illness rarely seen in the United States rode on one of the agency's trains several days before his death.State health officials also said the man's six children would be held out of school until the 21-day incubation period for the potentially contagious disease passes and it is determined they were not infected.
Authorities said they were taking precautions even though there was little chance that the disease could spread to anyone else..."
Rodent droppings and urine are the most common source of the virus,and people should exercise care in cleaning such droppings up (chlorine bleach is suggested by some authorities.)
If you are visiting a country where lassa is endemic,the chances of exposure increase.It's as simple as that.
No, you do not have to "exchange bodily fluids" to get lassa.
Just cancelled my trip to Liberia.
LOL
Well, did he get it in Liberia or Joisey?
What about using a toilet on a plane??? Is that possible? And remember the flight where the man disappeared into toilet and didn't bring back the paperbag he was carrying? The women thought there were terrorists on that plane? We had another thread where we discussed "what" he might have placed in that toilet's septic catch. Everyone on plane said he smelled like toilet cleaner.
It's a longshot but wondering about that plane still.
Maybe only eating a salad or drinking unboiled water. The French can have tropical Africa.
Intimate? He probably just ate and drank the local food.
True. From what I read, typically, the rodent droppings mix with the prevalent dust and dirt found in sheds, barns, and even houses where they "aereosolize" and are then inhaled by people.
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