Thiurvananthapuram: Rat fever in post-flood Kerala claimed five more lives on Monday as 71 more people were diagnosed with the rodent-infected disease in various parts of the state. The death toll is at 36.
The health department projected a slide in rate fever from Tuesday, given that the deluge has receded. The disease, which was first reported in the state this monsoon on August 26, is transmitted by a bacteria that has a lifespan of seven to 12 days.
A total of 788 people have been diagnosed with rat fever.
Of the five deaths on Monday, two each were from Kozhikode and Panthanamthitta districts. One person died in Kottayam district. A health volunteer (Joseph Mathai, 58) died of fever in Thodupuzha on Monday, but he wasn’t suffering from rat fever, the Idukki district medical officer claimed.
The two deceased in Kozhikode district were Anil, 54, of Eranjikal and Narayani, 80, of Vadakara. Anil was active in health work. Overall, Kozhikode lost 20 lives due to rat fever, while 104 patients are battling the disease. Another 209 are under treatment with rat fever symptoms.
In Pathanamthitta, the victims were health worker M R Ranju, 30, of Cherukolpuzha and P N Purushothaman, 54, of Idapariyaram near Ilanthur. Eliyamma, 48, of Vallichira near Palai was the deceased from Kottayam district.
Adithyan, 53, of Eramangalam in Malappuram district, who died on Sunday, was later confirmed to have been treated for rat fever. That takes the rat fever death toll in Malappuram district to seven.
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