Leptospirosis Disease
Kills Nine People,
Sickens 1,600 In
Nicaragua
Leptospirosis, also
known as
seven-day-fever, has
taken toll of nine lives
in Nicaragua. The
waterborne disease,
which spread through
animal urine, has also
sickened more than 1,600
in the country, health
officials said Monday.
Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega said
Sunday that the
bacterial disease was
spread by flooding
caused by a month of
intense rains and
category-5 Hurricane
Felix. Felix hit
northeastern Nicaragua
last month.
Lt. Col. Guillermo
Lopez, deputy chief of
the country's Civil
Defense Department told
the AP that as of midday
Monday, nine people had
died of the disease and
1,606 people had fallen
ill.
The highest number of
cases, 745, appeared in
the northwestern city of
Somotillo, Lopez added.
Leptospirosis, also
known as Weil's disease,
canicola fever or
canefield fever is a
bacterial disease caused
by spirochaetes of the
genus Leptospira that
affects humans and a
wide range of animals,
including mammals,
birds, amphibians, and
reptiles.
In human, leptospiral
infection causes a wide
range of symptoms, and
some infected persons
may have no symptoms at
all. Leptospirosis is a
biphasic disease that
begins with flu-like
symptoms (fever, chills,
myalgias, intense
headache).
The first phase resolves
and the patient is
asymptomatic briefly
before the second phase
begins that is
characterized by
meningitis, liver damage
(causing jaundice), and
renal failure.
Because of the wide
range of symptoms the
infection is often
wrongly diagnosed. This
leads to a lower
registered number of
cases than there really
are.
Symptoms of
leptospirosis include
high fever, severe
headache, chills, muscle
aches, and vomiting, and
may include jaundice,
red eyes, abdominal
pain, diarrhea, and/or a
rash. The symptoms in
humans appear after 4-14
day incubation period. |
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