Sri Lanka's rat fever cases hit decade-high in 2020

COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka's rat fever cases have reached a decade-high in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official data. Health ministry figures show that 6716 patients were identified by October this year, a 64.3% percent increase compared to the same period last year. The second-highest cases of rat fever in a year had been recorded in 2011 with the tally standing at 6689. Leptospirosis, commonly known as rat fever, is spread mainly by contact with water or soil contaminated by the urine of infected animals. The Ratnapura district has recorded 1389 patients, accounting for 20.6 per cent of the total cases identified so far this year. The health ministry's epidemiology unit has said that individuals infected with leptospirosis must be treated immediately with antibiotics. Abrupt onset of fever, headache, muscle tenderness and jaundice, are some symptoms of the disease that appear within 5 and 14 days of being infected.