NAMPA — A passenger on a Greyhound bus that traveled through Nampa died of meningitis this week, and authorities want others aboard at the time to quickly contact state health officials.

Up to 24 people are at risk of meningitis after the ill person, a Nevada resident, died in a Salt Lake City area hospital, officials said.

Health experts ask people who traveled Sunday on the Greyhound bus from Salt Lake City to Southwest Idaho to contact the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

But they do not believe there is a threat to the general public and are coordinating investigative efforts with their counterparts in neighboring states.

Health and Welfare spokeswoman Emily Simnitt said the bus trip began in Denver and that the ill person was taken off the bus in Salt Lake City. The person died at the Salt Lake City hospital, and lab results showed the person had invasive meningococcal disease.

The bus made stops in Burley, Twin Falls, Boise and Nampa before continuing on to Portland, Ore. Simnitt said people who were on the bus should contact the department so they can get information about steps they should take to reduce the risk of developing the potentially fatal disease.

Officials believe those who traveled on the bus might have been exposed to the disease during an early part of the trip.

Invasive meningococcal disease is relatively difficult to transmit person to person, but those considered at risk of infection should receive preventive antibiotic treatment to decrease the likelihood for developing the illness, Idaho health officials said.

The bus departed Salt Lake City at 2 p.m. and arrived at 9:45 p.m. in Boise.

Studies show those at-risk for contracting the disease include those who have kissed or shared food, water or cigarettes with a patient, had direct contact with a patient's oral secretions or live in the same household.