Bidar, Karnataka, Mar 3 (UNI) As many as 1,222 people in 26 villages in the district have been affected by Leptospirosis and another 49 by rat fever in the last one month.

Talking to reporters here today, District Disease Surveillance Officer Ratikant Swamy said no deaths had been reported so far from any of the villages.

He informed that the highest number of 634 Leptospirosis cases had been reported from Aurad taluk, followed by Humanabad 289, Bhalki 235, Basavakalyan 52 and Bidar 12.

Mr Swamy said all necessary steps had been taken to contain the spread of the diseases. Further the district administration had taken up a cleanliness drive and set up separate cells in government hospitals and primary health centres to combat communicable diseases.

District Health and Family Officer S Adiveppa said a team of experts would be visiting the district to study the situation in the affected areas. Lack of proper sanitation was one of the main reasons for the outbreak of the diseases, he added.

The gram and taluk panchayat authorities had taken steps to clean the villages and chlorinate the drinking water sources.

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