Leptospiral infections in urban and rural rats in Perak ,Malaysia and its public health implications.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonotic disease, caused by Leptospira interrogans. Leptospira are naturally carried in the renal tubules of rodents, wild and domestic animals. Rats can spread the disease to human, directly, through handling of animals, through contact with rodent faeces, urine or saliva, or through rodent bites or indirectly through ticks, mites or fleas that have fed on infected rodents. Rats can also spread diseases to animals in farms, homes and the outdoors. An increasing number of outbreaks of leptospirosis have been reported over the past decade in Malaysia. Although leptospirosis is a notifiable disease in Malaysia, in 2011 and 2012, the reported cases stood at 2,268 with 55 deaths and 3,665 with 48 deaths, respectively. A total of 2,925 cases with 28 deaths have been reported in 2013. A total 753 suspected cases of leptospirosis have been detected in flood-hit states in Malaysia with 126 people confirmed to be suffering from the disease in 2015.