Rat-spread disease on rise in Malaysia
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MALAYSIA has closed parks and warned the public about swimming and dumping trash in rivers after as many as 10 people died from a disease spread by rats.
The latest reported death from the bacterial disease leptospirosis was Saturday. The 17-year-old boy in northern Kedah state had swum in a river and had a picnic with friends at a recreational park last month, the New Straits Times and The Star reported.
Several parks throughout the country have been closed since the first deaths were reported last month.
Some deaths were believed caused by a separate waterborne disease, and a Health Ministry official could not immediately say how many were caused by leptospirosis.
The Health Ministry's website warns people not to swim in public rivers when it rains and to avoid swimming if they have cuts on their body.
Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated with urine of infected animals and absorbed through the skin. Rats are the main carriers.
Cases of the disease have been increasing in Malaysia. It killed 62 people last year, up from 20 in 2004. In the same period, the number of infections rose more than fivefold to more than 1,400 cases, up from 263.
Symptoms are severe muscle pain, fever, vomiting and headache, and leptospirosis is curable if the person is treated within a week.
The latest reported death from the bacterial disease leptospirosis was Saturday. The 17-year-old boy in northern Kedah state had swum in a river and had a picnic with friends at a recreational park last month, the New Straits Times and The Star reported.
Several parks throughout the country have been closed since the first deaths were reported last month.
Some deaths were believed caused by a separate waterborne disease, and a Health Ministry official could not immediately say how many were caused by leptospirosis.
The Health Ministry's website warns people not to swim in public rivers when it rains and to avoid swimming if they have cuts on their body.
Leptospirosis is caused by exposure to water contaminated with urine of infected animals and absorbed through the skin. Rats are the main carriers.
Cases of the disease have been increasing in Malaysia. It killed 62 people last year, up from 20 in 2004. In the same period, the number of infections rose more than fivefold to more than 1,400 cases, up from 263.
Symptoms are severe muscle pain, fever, vomiting and headache, and leptospirosis is curable if the person is treated within a week.
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