ABOUT 20 people die in Fiji every year as a result of leptospirosis.
With already 140 confirmed cases of leptospirosis in the country this year, Ministry of Health national adviser communicable disease Dr Mike Kama is calling on members of the public to be wary when drinking untreated water.
“This drought, especially in the Western Division, can cause people to drink unsafe water from pools and creeks. Our advice is to be wary as these sources of water can contain the bacteria leptospira which is found in animals and can spread to humans.”
Dr Kama said the Ministry of Health, together with other stakeholders, were working together to try and minimise the cases of leptospirosis in the country.
“All of Fiji is at risk of leptospirosis — not getting it at the first place is very important,” Dr Kama said.
A two-day stakeholders meeting which began on Tuesday, hoped to come up with new strategies of how they could tackle the disease.
In 2012, as a result of the flood, the number of leptospirosis cases in the country soared to about 5000.
Dr Kama said this was because of the fact that each relevant stakeholder was working alone.
However, after the collaborative effort by all stakeholders, they have managed to decrease the cases of leptospirosis from 2011 to 2015 by 50 per cent.
“We are quite happy with the decrease in the number of cases but we want to further decrease it but the challenge is the change in weather.
“What we hope to achieve from this meeting is reviewing our 2013 control agenda and how we can help other stakeholders review and research more information on leptospirosis and what intervention we can do plus the development of a Fiji National Strategic Plan,” said Dr Kama
The stakeholders meeting concluded yesterday.
Meanwhile, Dr Kama called on members of the public to proceed to the nearest facilities should they have symptoms of the disease. These symptoms include head aches, uneasiness and joint pains.
“Get a diagnosis early before it gets to a more complicated stage.”
Leptospirosis is caused by a strain of bacteria called leptospira, which is found in certain animals and can spread to humans. Many different kinds of animals can carry the bacteria, but it is most commonly associated with rats and mice, farm animals such as pigs, cattle, horses and sheep.
