The Ministry of Health has recorded five new leptospirosis deaths since the last update on April 25th.

These include a 39-year-old male from Qamea who was admitted to the CWM Hospital on April 30th and died on May 3rd.

The Ministry says the second death is of a 31-year-old male from Ba who died at home or en route to the hospital.

A 41-year-old male from Lautoka and a 50-year-old male from Ba died at the Lautoka hospital last month.

The fifth death is of a 16-year-old from Ba who died at Lautoka Hospital last month.

The Ministry says there have been a total of 41 deaths from leptospirosis this year, with 30 in the Western Division, four in Central, six in the North, and one in the Eastern Division.

There have been 2068 lab-confirmed cases of leptospirosis this year, with 111 new cases reported since the last update on April 25th.

The Ministry says there is a slight upward trend in cases with numbers noted above the outbreak threshold nationally, driven by cases in the Western Division.

It adds cases are above the expected numbers for this time of the year.

The Ministry says cases in the Western Division are increasing and remain above the outbreak alert threshold, indicating more cases than the expected number for this time of the year for this endemic disease.

In the West, there have been 864 lab-confirmed cases, with 54 new cases since the last update.

In the Central Division, there have been 715 cases, with 29 new cases recorded since late last month.

Case numbers have increased towards the outbreak alert threshold in the last two weeks in the Central Division.

In the North, there have been 427 cases, with 27 new cases since the last update.

The Ministry adds case numbers have risen above the outbreak alert threshold in the last week, and are just above the average number of cases expected at this time of the year.

In the Eastern Division, there have been 62 cases, with one new case reported since the last update.

Case numbers have continued to remain below the outbreak alert threshold in this Division and are at the average number seen at this time of the year.