Barely survived

Jack Osbourne was dying because of rat urine

Jack Osbourne narrowly survived a leptospirosis infection.(Bild: APA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Frazer Harrison)

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack Osbourne struggled to survive after a rat urine infection.

Jack Osbourne (38) described his shocking experience with the bacterial disease leptospirosis, which is transmitted by rat urine, in his family's podcast. "A crazy viral disease. Yeah, that sucked," he said.

"Was literally dying"
"I was filming in a place called Bario in Malaysia where we were doing a jungle trail," Jack explained. "I got really sick when I came out of the jungle, but only after about two weeks."

Jack Osbourne at the premiere of "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test,"(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/KEVIN WINTER)

He was in Lapland in Finland when the symptoms came on very badly. "I got really sick up there ... I was literally dying. It wasn't a fake thing," he said. 

Organs began to fail
They couldn't treat him in Lapland. He was flown to Helsinki. Even there, no one could determine what was wrong with him, so his parents - his mother Sharon was freaking out with worry - had him flown to London.

"At that point, my body finally gave out after five days, and I was lying in this bed, not eating, my kidneys and liver were failing, and I thought that was the end of me."

Stepped into rat urine with leech wounds
A tropical medicine specialist in London then saved his life. "I had Weil's disease, which is leptospirosis," says Jack. "I got it because I had leech bites on the bottom of my feet. I was swimming and bathing in a river, and we were climbing rocks and jumping into this jungle river, and I stepped in a puddle on this rock, and there was rat pee in it."

He was then treated with antibiotics. Osbourne now warns of the dangers of the disease and appeals for caution when coming into contact with contaminated water or soil.

If left untreated, the disease can lead to kidney damage, liver failure, respiratory distress and death.