Punjab CM diagnosed with leptospirosis, a deadly bacterial infection caused by rats, animals

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been diagnosed with leptospirosis, a bacterial infection. He was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali on Wednesday for a routine check-up.

As per a health bulletin issued by the hospital, all vitals of the Chief Minister are completely stable. He is currently on antibiotics and his vitals are normal.

"All clinical features and pathological tests have shown satisfactory improvement," the hospital has said.

Leptospirosis is a disease caused by Leptospira bacteria and transmitted to human beings through contact with contaminated water, soil, or animals. The pathogen favors warm moist environments, and the infection occurs when broken skin or mucous membrane come in contact with contaminants.

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The effects of Leptospirosis can be pretty mild but it can also be severe. In mild form leptospirosis shares common symptoms like flu-like fever, muscular aches, headaches, and vomiting, and in severe conditions it can lead to liver failure, kidney damage, meningitis, or even death. Weil's disease is one more dangerous complication of leptospirosis in which one can have jaundice, internal bleeding, and organ failure.

Leptospirosis is animal-borne; the most common source of animals is rodents, mainly rats. Other species of animals like cattle and pigs have been found to harbor the disease causing bacterium Leptospira in their kidneys, then excreted in the urine. Humans may contract the infection by coming in direct contact with the urine or indirectly by coming into contact with contaminated water, soil, and food.

Few days before Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia had claimed that CM Mann has liver cirrhosis. Regarding the liver cirrhosis diagnosis of CM Mann, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia had claimed: "As per credible information, Bhagwant Mann is in the third or fourth stage of liver cirrhosis and has been told to keep off liquor or undergo a liver transplant. He had to be hospitalised in an emergency last night due to the accumulation of fluids in his lungs and stomach, which caused breathlessness, all of which are classic symptoms of people suffering from liver cirrhosis."