A long but very informatice article from The Star. It covers almost all aspect of Leptospirosis and Melioidosis which is currently spreading in several part of the country. Please take the time to read the whole article :
" To prevent leptospirosis and melioidosis, you need to know where they lurk in your surroundings.
It is easy to assume that leptospirosis and melioidosis are one disease, but with two names. However, that is far from true.
While both diseases are caused by bacteria, the type of bacteria and the source of the diseases are different. Leptospirosis is actually caused by bacteria found in rat urine and melioidosis by bacteria found in soil and water.
One reason for this misunderstanding could be due to fact that both the bacteria that cause the two diseases can occasionally be found in the same environment. This is shown in the recent outbreak in the Lubuk Yu recreational area near Maran, Pahang, where members of a rescue team were exposed to the groups of bacteria that cause leptospirosis Leptospira sp.) and melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei).
We’ve seen this before
Both leptospirosis and melioidosis are not new diseases. Leptospirosis, for instance, is an old disease. The first fatal case of leptospirosis was reported in Malaysia in 1925 by researcher W. Fletcher. However, the incidence of leptospriosis was only five per 100,000 population in 2009, which is low compared to the incidence of dengue (136.89 per 100,000 population), TB (63.95 per 100,000 population) and malaria (24.74 per 100,000 population)."
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