Five leptospirosis patients undergoing treatment at the New Civil Hospital were declared dead by doctors on Thursday morning. With this, the death toll has risen to 12 in south Gujarat this monsoon.

The deceased were identified as Bharti Puwar (40), a resident of Umarkui village in Vasda; Manish Choudhary (18), a resident of Vyara taluka; Geeta Patel (40), a resident of Barsad village in Mahuva taluka; Bharti Rathod (26), a resident of Vaiya village in Bardoli taluka; and Gavan Basawa (25).

Over 30 leptospirosis patients are still undergoing treatment at the hospital. In view of a large number of such patients coming from different villages across south Gujarat, a separate ward has now been formed at the hospital.

Dr Naresh Godara, Assistant Professor of Preventive and Social Medicine, said: “The primary Health Care Centres and the Community Health Care Centres have been asked to immediately attend to the farm labourers suffering from leptospirosis. If the need arises, they will be shifted to the New Civil Hospital.”

He said the mortality rate has been very low this year as compared to last year. Their teams are working in different parts of Navsari and Surat districts, he added.