Gaza Herald_ Bassem Zaquot, Director of Medical Relief in the Gaza Strip, warned of growing concerns over the spread of a new disease known as leptospirosis among displaced people in the enclave, following the diagnosis of five confirmed cases.
In a special statement to Safa News Agency on Tuesday, Zaquot confirmed that five cases of leptospirosis have been recorded in the southern Gaza Strip, four of whom remain in intensive care units.
He explained that following the floods that occurred in November, medical teams suspected that a type of bacteria had been transmitted into flowing water through the urine of rats infected with leptospirosis. The bacteria then entered the bodies of children, women, and the elderly through wounds or skin cracks, leading to infection.
Zaquot said that the main symptoms of the disease include sudden high fever, severe fatigue and bone pain, inflammation of the eye membrane, and in advanced cases, yellowing of the skin (jaundice).
He added that initial suspicions raised by medical teams linked the symptoms, particularly jaundice, to viral hepatitis. However, the fact that some patients had previously been infected with hepatitis led doctors to suspect leptospirosis instead.
Zaquot clarified that the disease does not spread from person to person and is therefore non-contagious. However, Gaza’s environmental conditions significantly increase the risk of infection, especially with the widespread presence of rats in displacement camps, the mixing of sewage water with rainwater, and recurring floods following every weather depression affecting the Strip.
He stressed that failure to urgently allow the entry of necessary laboratory testing equipment could lead to a wider outbreak among displaced populations, putting lives at risk due to the inability to conduct early diagnosis.
Zaquot warned that the danger of the disease lies in delayed detection, which could result in kidney failure or hepatitis.
He concluded by saying, “We do not have sufficient expertise to diagnose the disease accurately. Therefore, the World Health Organization has been informed of the five cases, and samples have been collected. However, the diagnosis has not yet been officially confirmed.”
