GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

31-01-2003, 05:28 PM

In article , newspost-
says...
In message , Druss
writes

Re rats in the compost

Yes, but the concerns about disease are more serious.

I would love to know exactly how common Weill's disease is, I mean how many
cases are there a year.

Not many - though of course it can be fatal..

I've seen figures quoted of 8 cases per year in the UK. In reality I
would there are other cases where the symptoms aren't so bad an it's
never realised that the person has the disease.

Defra seems a good source.

This is the relevant piece of the 2000 report.

Twenty five infections were caused by L.icterohaemorrhagiae. Two
patients died in 2000, both infections were due to L.
icterohaemorrhagiae.

It took a while to extract the specific figures from all of the other
Leptospirosis infections.

So the fatality rate for infections is 4%.

Warwick