Jack Osbourne shares harrowing near-death encounter after exposure to rat urine

Jack Osbourne, son of famed British rocker and Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, recently discussed a near-death experience he had during a trip to Malaysia.

The 38-year-old reality TV star discussed contracting a bacterial infection during a recent episode of “The Osbournes Podcast,” which he co-hosts with his father and his sister, Kelly.

“I’d gone and done some filming in a place called Bario in Malaysia … and we were doing a jungle track,” Osbourne explained.” “I got really sick when I got out of the jungle, but it took about two weeks incubation period and by that point I’d left the jungle.”

Osbourne said it happened in 2007 during season three of his ITV2 series, “Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie.”

The father of four conveyed the seriousness of the illness, saying he “literally was dying. This wasn’t like a fake thing.”

Osbourne recalled being transferred to several different hospitals before being sent back to London. Even there, he said the medical team couldn’t figure out why his body was “shutting down.”

“At this point, I’m like five days into my body legitimately shutting down, and I’m lying in this bed, I haven’t eaten, my kidneys and liver are like going into failure, and I’m like, ‘Uh, I’m f***ing losing it,’” he continued, saying the doctors put forth several theories including malaria and HIV, but initially could not figure out the problem.

“This guy who was the head of tropical diseases for the NHS, he’s like the number one guy, left and at 7 a.m. comes running into my room days later like, ‘I’ve got it!’” Osbourne said.

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That doctor diagnosed the reality star with leptospirosis, also called Weil’s disease. The disease can cause jaundice, kidney failure, and internal bleeding.

“I got it because I’ve got leech bites on the bottom of my feet,” Osbourne explained on the podcast. “I was swimming and bathing in a river, and we were climbing on rocks and jumping into this jungle river and I stepped in a puddle on this boulder … and it had rat’s piss in it.”

The disease can occur anywhere in the world and is a risk for anyone who goes fishing and might prick their finger with a hook and then come in contact with contaminated water. Per the NIH, there are about one million severe cases of leptospirosis globally every year, resulting in an estimated 58,900 deaths.

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