KUCHING: Two people died of leptospirosis, an infectious disease caused by bacteria in the urine of animals like rats, in the state as of July 25.
Dr Chan
Over the same period, 36 people were admitted statewide for suspected leptospirosis, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan.
From that figure, Bintulu recorded 14 cases, Sibu reported eight cases, Miri — four, Kuching and Kapit – three each, Saratok and Sarikei – two each, while Sri Aman and Lubok Antu had one case each.
“So far, three cases tested positive with two deaths in Lubok Antu and Bintulu. Five cases were negative and the rest still pending for results,” Dr Chan, who is State Disaster Relief Committee chairman, told a news conference yesterday.
He said leptospirosis is treatable with antibiotics such as Amoxycilin, Ampicillin, Doxycyclin or Erythromycin and patients must report themselves as early as possible.
He cautioned that late treatment might lead to fatalities, but added leptospirosis was not a notifiable disease.
Dr Chan pointed out that most leptospirosis cases involved farmers due to infected soil and contaminated water in the farm.
“Unfortunately, there is yet a vaccine. So what our farmers can do is put on boots when they go to the farm to prevent contact from soil with bacteria.”
He said it is difficult to diagnose leptospirosis as its symptoms shared similarities with dengue and other viral diseases, while the test normally took months to deliver results.
On the suspected leptospirosis case at the Bakun hydroelectric dam project involving a 46-year-old Chinese man who remained unconscious as of yesterday, he said the report on an online news portal was untrue.
“It is just a suspected case and the condition of the Chinese man is quite severe,” he said, adding he could not confirm if the man is a foreign national.
“It is not an outbreak. We are telling about the disease because we want to be more careful.”
He added that by next week, the authorities concerned should be able to provide detailed information on the infectious disease.
Last year, 74 patients admitted to government hospitals throughout the state were diagnosed with leptospirosis. No deaths were reported.
The divisions with the highest number of cases were Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kapit.
Leptospirosis is predominantly a disease of tropical and subtropical climates. The bacteria causing leptospirosis can be found in cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, rodents and wild animals.
The infection can be spread to humans from animals through direct contact or indirect with the contaminated source via water, food or soil.
The contamination is usually from the urine of the infected animals while an outbreak of leptospirosis can occur after bathing or drinking contaminated water. The disease is not known to be spread from person to person.
It is probably under-reported in many countries because of difficult clinical diagnosis and lack of diagnostic laboratory services.
This infectious disease should be suspected in patients with symptoms of fever, severe headache, prostration aching muscle or conjunctival suffusion or with signs of aseptic meningitis, adult respiratory distress syndrome with pulmonary haemorrhage, kidney failure or jaundice.
Leptospirosis is not in the list of notifiable diseases under the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Act Malaysia. However, administrative notification was implemented in the state in 2003.
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