Hoy newspaper alerts to the possibility of contracting leptospirosis, a sickness caused by bacteria found in the urine of infected rats. The newspaper tells the case of Odalia Milagros Pantaleón, a high-ranking officer of an engineering department at the Central Bank, who died from the disease because her physicians did not correctly diagnose the illness in time to catch it. The newspaper says that the disease at its start has symptoms similar to those of hepatitis or a bad cold. The final test that showed she had leptospirosis had to be carried out at the Laboratorio Veterinario Central of the Ministry of Agriculture. How did she catch the disease? Friends and relatives say she drank a lot of soft drinks in cans. The opener of the can makes contact with the soda in the opening process. The infected rat urine could have contaminated the top of the can. This could have been avoided by the careful washing of the can. Note that during storage periods in port areas, during transport time and even in supermarkets, cans can come in contact with rats.
