CDC: 150 Possibly Had Contact With Lassa Fever Victim
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Federal and New Jersey health officials have identified more than 150 people who possibly had contact with a patient who died of Lassa Fever.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Benjamin Haynes said in a statement Thursday that so far most of those people face no danger, but six are at a high risk of having been exposed. Thirty-three are at low risk.
Haynes says all are being monitored.
A New Jersey man died Monday after returning earlier this month from traveling in West Africa.
Lassa fever is far less likely to be fatal than Ebola. It does not spread through casual contact but rather through contact with the blood, feces or vomit of an infected person, or the urine or droppings of infected rodents.
(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)