Why is Kerala facing high leptospirosis mortality? | Explained
Kerala is experiencing a high mortality rate from leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease that surges during the monsoon season due to the state's unique environmental conditions. Health officials attribute the high reported numbers to better surveillance and diagnostic logging compared to other endemic regions.
Why it matters
Understanding the environmental and occupational drivers of leptospirosis is critical for public health policy in tropical regions prone to flooding.
The story so far: Leptospirosis is a tropical zoonotic disease — bacterial systemic infection caused by pathogenic Leptospira — which is highly integrated with an environment in which both humans and animals thrive. The disease, which began to be reported in Kerala since 1989, has been endemic in the State since the last three decades or more and has now become the communicable disease with the highest mortality profile.
Leptospirosis is reported throughout the year in Kerala but the cases and mortality begin surging with the arrival of the Southwest monsoon. Since the past three years, the State has been consistently reporting around 5,000 cases and close to 400 deaths (including confirmed and probable) every year. Leptospirosis is yet again in focus now, as the disease has claimed 50 lives just in the month of July this year.
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