Leptospirosis cases in Bay Area Leptospirosis cases under investigation Three men from the SF Bay Area were diagnosed with leptospirosis last week. The men were all in their 30's and were previously healthy. Their symptoms began May 16-17 with fever, headache, and myalgias.
Additional tests including convalescent serology and serotyping are pending.
The only common exposure for those patients was on May 6-7 when they rented a houseboat on a reservoir in the Sierras with five other men. While everyone reported swimming in the reservoir, only these three patients swam to a cove and hiked up to a waterfall. Wildlife is common in this area and range cattle were observed grazing above the cove where a tributary drains into the reservoir. DHS will be assisting the local health department with environmental sampling at the cove, including collection of water specimens to test for Leptospira. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals.