
Lassa fever kills an Iowa resident. Here's what to know about the rare virus and its symptoms.
CBSN
A middle-aged Iowa resident who recently traveled to West Africa has died from Lassa fever, state health officials confirmed Monday.
"I want to assure Iowans that the risk of transmission is incredibly low in our state," Dr. Robert Kruse, state medical director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, said in a news release. "We continue to investigate and monitor this situation and are implementing the necessary public health protocols."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local public health partners are working to identify anyone "who may have been in close contact with the patient, out of an abundance of caution, for monitoring," the release added.

Santa Fe, New Mexico — A representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, especially photographs and police body-camera video related to the recent deaths of Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home in February.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.