Pakistan's National Institute of Health issues awareness, communication alert for Human Leptospirosis

Pakistan's National Institute of Health (NIH) has issued an awareness and communication alert for Human Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals, ARY News reported.

Pakistan's National Institute of Health (NIH) has issued an awareness and communication alert for human leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals, ARY News reported. ARY News is a Pakistani news channel.

As per the NIH's Centre for Disease Control, the objective of this advisory is to alert and facilitate the health authorities and other stakeholders to ensure early detection, timely management, and laboratory detection of leptospirosis cases. The advisory said that Leptospirosis is a rare zoonotic bacterial disease caused by the bacterium belonging to the Leptospira genus, which transmits from animals, mostly rodents, pets, cattle, and other wild animals, to humans through contact with infected animal excreta, as per ARY News.

Though the bacterial disease, Leptospirosis, occurs worldwide, it is more common in tropical and subtropical areas with high rainfall. In recent years, cases of human and animal Leptospirosis have been reported in numerous countries in the Middle East.

Sporadic cases have, however, been reported in Pakistan in the past few years. The disease is found mainly wherever humans come into contact with the urine of infected animals or a urine-polluted environment. It is an occupational hazard for many people who work outdoors or with animals or water-based activities. Person-to-person transmission is very rare, there may be individuals who have been exposed to a common source, as per ARY News. (ANI)