hiking

Do leeches carry dangerous diseases in Sri Lanka.

Asked 5 months agoSeen by 320 travellers

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Levi G.•875 rep•1

I am hiking in the hill country and terrified of leeches. Will they give me an infection.

hiking safety

asked 5 months ago

Levi G.•875 rep•1

2 Answers from travellers

✓Accepted Answer

While discovering a leech firmly attached to your ankle is highly visually terrifying they are biologically entirely completely harmless. Sri Lankan jungle leeches absolutely do not transmit or carry any dangerous human diseases or bacteria.

answered 5 months ago

Nuwan D.•17070 rep•1

They simply extract a tiny amount of blood and naturally fall off. The only incredibly minor risk is a tiny secondary infection if you aggressively scratch the itchy bite mark with dirty hands later. Simply apply a generous amount of strong local Siddhalepa balm or salt to safely detach them.