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The Indian Ocean Health Agency is raising awareness of the risk of leptospirosis, now that it is summertime in the southern hemisphere when the climate in Reunion is hot and wet (November to April). These conditions are conducive to an increase in infections caused by Leptospira bacterium.
Thus far in 2014, 59 cases of leptospirosis have been recorded in Reunion, 3 of which were fatal.
Leptospirosis is caused by contact with fresh water, wet soil, or vegetation that has been contaminated by urine of animals that are chronically infected. The infection is transmitted through unhealed breaks in the skin, the eyes, or the mucous membranes. Rats, dogs, cattle, and pigs are the usual reservoirs for this organism. Leptospirosis occurs worldwide and frequently follows flooding after heavy rains.
