Disease Contracted From Animal Urine Left Jack Osbourne Fighting for His Life

Jack Osbourne attends the red carpet for Fox's "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sep. 12, 2023. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Jack Osbourne recalls a near-death experience after contracting a rare disease in Malaysia during filming for a reality television series.

The 38-year-old—the son of famed British rocker Ozzy Osbourne—recently opened up about his experience on an episode of “The Osbournes Podcast,” saying he “literally was dying.”

Back in 2007, Mr. Osbourne was filming his ITV2 show, “Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie,” in the village of Bario when he contracted leptospirosis, a bacterial infection.

“We were doing a jungle track … 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.”

In the weeks following, Mr. Osbourne remembers getting extremely sick while on a trip to Finland, where his condition stumped medical professionals before he eventually had to get flown back to London.

“Having a tropical disease when you’re in Finnish Lapland … they were looking at me being like, ‘We don’t know what to do.’ And so I got medevaced to Helsinki. I get put into the university hospital there. No one speaks English in Finland at all; it’s not like Sweden or Denmark. So mom got the plane, I get flown to London.”

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At that point, Mr. Osbourne said he was experiencing liver and kidney failure, adding his body was “shutting down.”

The medical team was at odds trying to figure out what was wrong with Mr. Osbourne, contemplating malaria and even HIV as a possible diagnosis.

Eventually, a doctor specializing in tropical diseases found the answer after noticing leech bites on the bottoms of his feet.

“And then this guy who was the head of tropical diseases for the National Health Service, I think, he’s like the No. 1 guy, left … and at 7 a.m. comes running into my room days later like, ‘I’ve got it!’”

The reality star developed a severe case of leptospirosis while in the jungle, which can cause jaundice, kidney failure, and internal bleeding.

“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,” said Mr. Osbourne.

The ordeal has made Mr. Osbourne more aware, saying cases like this have become more common in England, especially when river fishing, as some can get contaminated through pricks from fishing hooks.

Meanwhile, the father of four hosts “The Osbournes Podcast” alongside his father, mother Sharon, and sister Kelly.

Leptospirosis

Otherwise known as Weil’s disease, leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria found in animal urine, causing a wide range of symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, humans can contract the infection through contaminated water, food, or soil through contact with the eyes, mouth, nose, or cuts in the skin.

Symptoms include high fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and vomiting, and they can often be confused with other illnesses. Recovery times vary, and the infection can last from a few days to weeks or even months.

Some patients see the illness develop in phases, getting better after abrupt symptoms and then getting sick again following an incubation period.

The National Institutes of Health says there are about 1 million cases of leptospirosis reported globally each year, and without proper treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, or even death.