Nine rat fever deaths

Siri Wawwage Matara

Rat fever had killed nine people in Matara during the recent days, Matara hospital sources said.

These patients had died between January and May.

At present there are two rat fever patients and two dengue patients undergoing treatment at this hospital, Hospital Director Dr. S. Samarakoon said.

Among those who had died of rat fever were four males and five females.

Most of them were engaged in cultivating paddy fields or indirectly connected to paddy cultivation.

They had cultivated paddy during rainy season and were infected with the germs, sources said.

During the first half of this year three women had died of dengue after being admitted while four others of the district who were admitted to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital also had succumbed to the disease.