§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of cases of Weil's disease in each health authority area in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Freeman[holding answer 15 February 1990]: Laboratory reports of leptospirosis to the communicable disease surveillance centre provided by health authorities for England and Wales are given in the following table. The figures include Weil's disease. There are a number of different serogroups of leptospira causing a range of clinical infections. Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae is the serogroup which may give rise in this country to the clinical presentation of Weil's disease. For the period 1979–89, leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae accounted for roughly one third of the laboratory reports of leptospirosis.