NEW DELHI, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Health officials in India's flood-hit southern state of Kerala have issued a high alert for leptospirosis, or rat fever, after the water-borne disease killed 28 people in the past one month, local media reported on Saturday.

According to local newspaper Hindustan Times, the local health department sounded an alert and sought more medicines from federal health ministry.

Doctors said the possibility of contracting leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease that transmits from animals to humans, is high during floods.

The report quoted a senior health official as saying at least 300 suspected cases were reported from the state in the last three days.

The suspected cases were reported from Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts.

Health officials said people experiencing symptoms of fever or body pain shall immediately go to hospitals and avoid self-medication.

Last month devastating floods ravaged Kerala killing nearly 400 people.