Man diagnosed with Lassa fever dies in US: 7 things to know

A man died yesterday of the rare disease Lassa fever after returning from Liberia to the United States, according to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention statement.

Here are seven things to know:

1. The patient did not report symptoms during the flight and did not have a fever when he arrived to JFK International Airport in New York on May 17.

2. The next day, the patient went to a New Jersey hospital with symptoms of a sore throat, fever and tiredness but did not report history to West Africa to the hospital, and was sent home.

3. The patient, after returning to the hospital May 21, was transferred to a treatment center and tested positive for Lassa fever.

4. The patient tested negative for other viral hemorrhagic fevers and for Ebola.

5. Lassa fever is a common viral disease in West Africa, carried by rodents to humans but has never been transmitted person-to-person in the United States.

6. This New Jersey case is the sixth occurrence of Lassa fever in returning travelers to the United States since 1969.

7. Patients are not believed to be infectious before the onset of symptoms.

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