Rat fever grips flood-hit Kerala: Leptospirosis claims 28 lives, alert sounded

Kerala has been on a spree of troubles, the flood-battered state is now battling leptospirosis, a water-borne disease, which has claimed over two dozen lives across the state. 

Due to rat fever, as many as 28 people reported having died. The latest death was reported at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital where a woman died on Sunday morning due to the disease that transmits from animals to humans. 

Leptospirosis, popularly known as rat fever is a communicable disease which is caused by direct contact with body fluids (usually urine) of an infected animal, usually rats.

At least 40 people were reported to have diagnosed with rat fever in Kerala till Sunday. Kozhikode reported 28 such cases and the rest were from Alappuzha, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta. 

The Health Department of Kerala has taken up the issue and released advisory notices to relief workers and the victims to get medical care and preventive medication as soon as possible. 

The state health directorate has also issued an alert in five districts - Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Malappuram and Ernakulam. 

Commenting on the health crises in state Health Minister K K Shailaja has assured that there is no need to panic as remedial measures have been in implementation.

“Every hospital is stocked with all the required medicines and advised people in the flood-hit areas to take precautions and a course of doxycycline," she added.

(With inputs from agencies)