Iowa resident dies from Ebola-like virus that causes sufferers to bleed from their eyeballs as CDC issues warning

An Iowa resident has died after contracting a frightening viral disease, similar to Ebola, that leaves victims bleeding from their eyeballs. 

The patient had returned to the U.S. from West Africa earlier this month bringing the disease know as Lassa Fever, rarely seen in the U.S., back with them, health officials said.

The person was not sick while traveling meaning the risk to fellow airline passengers is extremely low, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Patients are not believed to be infectious before symptoms occur and the virus is not spread by casual contact.

An Iowa resident has died after contracting a frightening viral disease, Lassa Fever, similar to Ebola, that leaves victims bleeding from their eyeballs

Researchers are seen studying Lassa fever in June of this year. The viral disease is endemic to several West African countries and transmitted by rodents

The patient, who has not been identified publicly, was placed in isolation in hospital at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center in Iowa City. 

On Monday, testing by the Nebraska Laboratory Response Network revealed the patient had died from Lassa fever.

If the results are confirmed, the Iowa case would be the ninth known case of Lassa fever since 1969 in travelers returning to the U.S. from areas where the disease is found.

The CDC is now assisting Iowa health officials to identify people who had been in contact with the patient after symptoms began. Those identified as being in close contact will be monitored for three weeks.

Lassa fever, which is caused by the Lassa virus, is a relatively common disease in West Africa, with between 100,000 and 300,000 cases diagnosed every year with around 5,000 deaths.

Healthcare workers in protective equipment are seen burying a 13-year-old boy who died from Lassa fever in 2014 (file photo)

The person was not sick while traveling meaning the risk to fellow airline passengers is extremely low, officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said

Symptoms are typically mild and include fever, fatigue and headache but some people may develop vomiting, difficulty breathing, facial swelling and pain in the back, chest or stomach.

State and local health officials are trying to work out how the patient became infected.

Its believed they had been in contact with rodents in West Africa. 

The virus itself is carried by rodents and spreads to humans through contact with urine or feces droppings of the infected animals. 

In rare cases, it can be transmitted among people through direct contact with a sick persons blood or bodily fluids, through mucous membranes or through sexual contact.

Lassa fever was named after a Nigerian town where Western-trained doctors first noted it in 1969.