Lassa Fever Patient Coming to Emory Hospital

ATLANTA, GA -- An American medical worker who has contracted Lassa Fever is being transported to Emory University Hospital this weekend.

According to the CDC, Lassa fever is a viral illness endemic in parts of west Africa including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. The number of Lassa virus infections per year in west Africa is estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, with approximately 5,000 deaths.

The patient is being flown to metro Atlanta and will be taken to Emory to be treated in the same area of the hospital that housed Ebola patients last year, according to WSB-TV.

Read the rest of WSB-TV's report here.