(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Tom Bell on September 3.
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.
“There is no evidence of any secondary cases,” said Dr. Clifton Lacy, state health commissioner. “We feel the likelihood of that is very low.”
The 38-year-old man died of Lassa fever, a disease spread by rats and common in West Africa but not detected in this country since 1989. Authorities do not know the specific NJ Transit train the man took for his trip from Newark Liberty International Airport to the Trenton train station Aug. 24.
The illness is not passed through casual contact, but those who believe they may have been on the same train as the Trenton area man were told they could call the state health department if they had concerns.
The Centers for Disease Control also said that it would contact those who sat next to or directly in front or behind the man during his flight home from West Africa to monitor their health.
The man, who was not identified by health officials, flew Aug. 23 from Sierra Leone on Astraeus Flight 72 to Gatwick Airport in London. He then took Continental Flight 29, which arrived in Newark at 3:20 p.m. on Aug. 24.
High risk exposure involves contact with bodily fluids, and there is no indication the man had symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea on either flight or on the train, health officials said.
The man returned home to his wife and children after five months in West Africa because he felt ill, Lacy said. He went to the emergency room of Capital Health System Mercer Medical Center the night of Aug. 24 and was admitted to the hospital. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died due to massive kidney and liver failure on Aug. 28.
His children range in ages from less than one year to 18. None of them have shown symptoms of the disease and are not being quarantined, according to Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the state’s chief epidemiologist. He said they were being held out of school as a precaution.
There is an anti-viral drug that is effective in treating most cases of the disease, Lacy 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.
The last case of the disease in New Jersey was reported more than 20 years ago.
Lassa fever can be contracted through contact with rat droppings or urine. The incubation period can be one to three weeks. The disease is most prevalent in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.