Signs and symptoms of leptospirosis, a blood…

Signs and symptoms of leptospirosis, a blood infection caused by the spirochaete bacterium Leptospira, can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe (bleeding in the lungs or meningitis).

Weil's disease, the acute, severe form of leptospirosis, causes the infected individual to become jaundiced (skin and eyes become yellow), develop kidney failure, and bleed.

Pulmonary hemorrhage in association with leptospirosis is known as "severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome".

The disease will first be described by Adolf Weil in 1886 when reporting an "acute infectious disease with enlargement of spleen, jaundice, and nephritis."

Before Weil's description, the disease is known as "rice field jaundice" in ancient Chinese text, "autumn fever", "seven-day fever", and "nanukayami fever in Japan; in Europe and later in Australia, the disease is associated with certain occupations and given names such as "cane-cutter's disease", "swine-herd's disease", and "Schlammfieber" (mud fever).