Authors : S.N. Mohamed-Hassan, A.R. Bahaman, A.R. Mutalib and S. Khairani-Bejo
Abstract: Rats are considered as one of the most important sources of leptospirosis as they are present in abundance in many environments. They caused significant economic losses and served as reservoirs for many zoonotic diseases. One of the diseases is leptospirosis which is considered a re-emerging disease in Malaysia. However, knowledge of the epizootic of leptospirosis and leptospiral serovars associated with rats is lacking. The objectives of the study therefore were to determine the distribution of rat’s species and their carrier status. In Malaysia, R. tiomanicus was found to be the dominant species found in Malaysian environments and it constitutes 86.0% (420 out of 488 rats) of the rats caught in different types of localities; National Service Training Camps (Kelantan, Terengganu, Malacca and Selangor), oil palm estates (Terengganu and Malacca), Royal Belum Rainforest (Perak), Suburban areas (Kelantan and Perak) and PULAPOL (Negeri Sembilan). Sixty leptospiral isolates (12.3%) were successfully cultured from the kidneys of the rats caught. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay revealed 42 (8.6%) of the isolates were pathogenic as disclosed by the 16S primers. Majority of the pathogenic leptospires were isolated from rats caught in the National Service Training Camps (NSTC). The high rate in NSTC posed a major threat to the trainees as they were frequently involved in outdoor activities and exposed to infected environment. Therefore, control of rat population is crucial in minimizing the risk of transmitting leptospirosis to human.
S.N. Mohamed-Hassan, A.R. Bahaman, A.R. Mutalib and S. Khairani-Bejo, 2012. Prevalence of Pathogenic Leptospires in Rats from Selected Locations in Peninsular Malaysia. Research Journal of Animal Sciences, 6: 12-25.