Vincentians are being warned to be very cautious when it comes to rats and the threat of the disease leptospirosis.
This warning came from infectious disease specialist Dr. Jerrol Thompson during his appearance on WE FM’s Activated Morning’s program.
Dr. Thompson urged persons to learn more about the disease, so as to to be able to better prevent infection, warning of its potentially fatal effects.
“There’s been a public health announcement in relation to rats, a disease called leptospirosis. And I want everyone to Google it, learn a little bit more about it. But we have to do a lot more. It’s not just about Kingstown and the scraps of food and the various vendors that they leave around. It’s also out into the communities, the farmers and things like that. Be very careful about rats and leptospirosis. It can kill.” Dr. Thompson said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Leptospirosis is an illness caused by the bacteria Leptospira. You can get leptospirosis after getting water or soil contaminated by animal pee (urine) in your nose, your mouth, your eyes or a break in your skin. Leptospirosis can cause flu-like symptoms that can worsen into Weil’s syndrome, a life-threatening illness, in a small number of people.
