Declare all-out war on rats
LEPTOSPIROSIS has made the headlines again after 40 people were quarantined at the Tanah Merah Hospital in Kelantan recently following the death of a man from what was initially suspected as a viral infection. The Health Ministry later confirmed that they had detected leptospirosis in three out of 12 victims with respiratory infection symptoms and all of them had attended a family gathering in Kajang two weeks earlier.
This latest incident has brought up memories of a similar case at Lubuk Yu waterfall in Maran, where eight people succumbed to the bacterial infection also known as kencing tikus (rat urine) when they joined a search-and-rescue (SAR) mission to locate a drowning victim in 2010. The recreational forest was later closed for three months due to the incident.
Although the authorities have yet to confirm the source of the latest infection in Tanah Merah, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was quoted saying that maintaining good hygiene was of the utmost importance in preventing the spread of such diseases.
Since leptospirosis was gazetted as a disease under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 in December 2010, the number of cases has steadily increased between 2011 and 2015 although it dropped last year.
The Health Ministry’s statistics show that in 2011, there were 2,268 cases; 2012 (3,665 cases); 2013 (4,457 cases); 2014 (7,806 cases), 2015 (8,291 cases) and 2016 (5,284 cases).
The statistics also reveal that in 2011, 55 people died of the disease; 2012 (48); 2013 (71); 2014 (92); 2015 (78) and 2016 (52).
According to the ministry, most of the cases are closely related to the victims’ type of jobs and among those in the high-risk categories are workers in the agricultural industry, waste management sector and animal farms, pet handlers and those involved in SAR and recreational activities.
Those with chronic diseases and open wounds should be extra cau- tious because they are more susceptible to the bacterial infection, which is occurring due to unhygienic and dirty environments that have become breeding grounds for rodents.
There are many hawker sites, drains and back lanes that are infested with rats, which consume leftover food and rubbish thrown indiscriminately in such areas.
Unkempt recreational areas will also attract rats, and their urine can contaminate the water and soil, leading to infection.
Due to the seriousness of the leptospirosis infection, which has affected 31,771 people and claimed 396 lives in the past six years, I would like to urge all local authori- ties to declare an all-out war against rats and ensure that their areas are free of rat-breeding grounds.
Food operators must also keep their premises clean and seek help from the local authorities and pest control companies to destroy the rodents.
The Health Department must also cooperate with other agencies and local authorities to educate the public on the importance of maintaining personal hygiene and the cleanliness of their premises and the environment. Such educational programmes must be sustainable.
At the same time, those who suffer from symptoms that can be related to leptospirosis, such as fever, headache and muscle pain, should immediately seek treatment.
To help the authorities fight against leptospirosis infection, all parties must play their roles to improve cleanliness at all levels.
The gotong royong spirit must be revived and residents from each neighbourhood must get together to organise clean-up campaigns with the help of the local authorities.
The public can always refer to the handbook on leptospirosis that can be downloaded from the ministry’s website at www.moh.gov. my. TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE NIOSH Chairman