Last week my wife showed me an interesting short newspaper article (here is a web version). It was from the Los Angeles Associated Press. The article stated that Jane Seymour, the good Dr. Quinn, in the television show Medicine Woman had been misdiagnosed. Initially the doctors thought Ms. Seymour had acquired dengue fever while shooting a film in Puerto Rico. After a few more tests they discovered she had a disease called leptospirosis or swamp fever (canicola fever, hemorrhagic jaundice, infectious jaundice, mud fever, spirochetal jaundice, swinehead's disease, and Weil's disease).
Leptospirosis is caused by a bacteria called Leptospira interrogans. If you go to the previous link you can see that this bacteria is really neat. It is placed in the group of bacteria called the spirochetes. This is because they move in a spiralling fashion through liquid media and because of their corkscrew shape.
Animals can also be infected with Leptospira interrogans. The organisms can live for long periods of time in the animals kidneys and then go to the bladder. When the animal urinates the organisms can live for up to 14 days in wet moist places (stagnant pools). This disease is transmitted to people through the ingestion of infected animal tissue (meat) or by direct contact with water contaminated with animal urine or by direct contact with animal urine on scratched skin or the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth. Leptospira interrogans can be found in nearly every place in the world. Most cases of leptospirosis occur in the tropical countries of the world. Most people get leptospirosis in the summer or fall months in temperate regions of the world. People like butchers, hunters, zookeepers, and veteranarians are most likely to get this disease.
When someone is infected with Leptospira interrogans the organisms go directly to the blood stream. Once in the blood they get in the kidneys, liver, and the brain. Most times the organisms are rapidly eliminated from the liver and brain however, elimination from the kidney takes some time. Therefore, people with leptospirosis can shed Leptospira interrogans for awhile in their urine.
After a person is infected it takes 1 to 2 weeks before the person starts feeling ill. When they finally do get sick they will run a fever, have a severe headache, experience muscle pains, and feel like vomiting . The patient will feel ill for about 7 days. Severe cases of leptospirosis can result in the patient getting jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of their eyes), and small amount of bleeding in the skin. This bleeding
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