What is Lassa fever

Lassa fever is a virus spread by rats that is endemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia, New Guinea and Nigeria, according to the CDC.

Symptoms can be similar to Ebola, including hemorrhagic fever and bleeding, although 80% of patients experience mild symptoms and can even go undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organization.

Lassa fever is deadly in about 1% of all individuals. Among those who require hospitalization for their illness, 15% do not survive.

New Jersey man dies of Lassa fever

Unlike Ebola, Lassa fever is not spread from person to person. People become infected from contact with urine or feces of an infected rat, which sometimes happens from food. Breathing particles in the air from infected rat feces can also lead to infection. Coming into direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person can also lead to infection, although this is rare.

Symptoms begin one to three weeks after a person is infected.

The virus can be treated with the antiviral drug Ribavirin.

Lassa fever infects an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people in West Africa each year and is responsible for 5,000 deaths