Is leptospirosis worse than usual in Ratnapura?

No. Leptospirosis in Ratnapura is well below its usual for these weeks.

11 cases a week, against a usual 30.

050100usual range2026JanAprJulOct

Read from these four weekly reports by Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka:

  • 20–26 Jul 2026 (Vol 53 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–2 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 34)
The 8 reports behind "usual"
  • 20–26 Jul 2024 (Vol 51 No 31)
  • 27 Jul–2 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 34)
  • 19–25 Jul 2025 (Vol 52 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–1 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 32)
  • 2–8 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 33)
  • 9–15 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 34)

The publisher's own list of its weekly reports

How this is worked out. The last four weeks against the same four weeks of the two years before, for Ratnapura alone. What "usual" means.

When does leptospirosis usually peak in Ratnapura?

It has no fixed season here: in the last 18 years its peaks fell in 10 different months.

2008: peaked in week 412009: peaked in week 292010: peaked in week 392011: peaked in week 172012: peaked in week 62013: peaked in week 132014: peaked in week 462015: peaked in week 412016: peaked in week 242017: peaked in week 382018: peaked in week 282019: peaked in week 482020: peaked in week 242021: peaked in week 122022: peaked in week 212023: peaked in week 492024: peaked in week 482025: peaked in week 13JFMAMJJASOND

One year's peak2025Now and the next ten weeks

From 18 years of weekly reports, 2008 to 2025: each dot is the month that year's leptospirosis peaked in Ratnapura.

How does Ratnapura compare with the rest of Sri Lanka?

Ratnapura is 12th of the 12 districts with enough cases to compare, each against its own usual.

usual⅛×8×32×country 0.6×Badulla: 1.0×Colombo: 0.7×Galle: 0.6×Gampaha: 0.5×Hambantota: 1.0×Kalutara: 0.5×Kegalle: 0.8×Kurunegala: 0.6×Matara: 1.0×Monaragala: 0.9×Nuwara Eliya: 0.4×Ratnapura: 0.4×Ratnapura

Across Sri Lanka as a whole, leptospirosis is at 0.6× its usual; in Ratnapura it is 0.4×.

What is leptospirosis?

Leptospirosis is an infection caused by a germ (bacterium) that lives in animals such as rats, dogs, pigs and cattle, and passes to people.

Signs
Sudden fever, headache, muscle pain (especially in the calves), red eyes and yellow skin. Severe cases can harm the kidneys, heart and lungs.
How it spreads
When water, mud or soil holding infected animals' urine touches cuts or the eyes, nose or mouth. Floods raise the risk. It rarely passes between people.
How to protect yourself
Avoid wading or swimming in flood water or dirty water. Wear boots and gloves, cover cuts with waterproof plasters, and wash after contact with mud or water.
Get medical help
See a doctor quickly for fever after contact with flood water or mud. Antibiotics treat it, so early care matters.

In Dooram's words, from the World Health Organization. Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News: Leptospirosis – the United Republic of Tanzania (2022), read 8 October 2026. General information, not medical advice.

Leptospirosis in every country Dooram reads ›

A reported case means someone reached a clinic and a form was filed, so these count reports, not everyone who was ill.

Sources. Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, weekly report. District maps: Survey Department of Sri Lanka, published as a Common Operational Dataset by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.