Eleven died from melioidosis bacterial infection in Sarawak - Leptospirosis is present in rat urine & melioidosis is a water-and-earth-borne bacteria

Report: Eleven died of melioidosis bacterial infection
By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my

ELEVEN people have died from melioidosis bacterial infection in Sarawak this year.

A report from the Sarawak Health Department stated that the deaths were reported between February and August and the age ranged from 11 to 73 years old.

The report said there were five deaths due to leptospirosis, including an Indonesian man.

It added that the risk factors that might contribute to leptospirosis were the presence of animals like dog and rat in the patient’s workplace or home, swimming in river, direct contact with muddy water and jungle trekking.

Leptospirosis is present in rat urine while melioidosis is a water-and-earth-borne bacteria.

On dengue, the report said that in the first nine months of this year, Sarawak reported a total of 3,445 cases compared to 1,364 cases during the same period last year.

Sibu has the highest number of reported dengue cases with 850 cases followed by Miri (687 cases), Kuching (379 cases), Bintulu (188 cases), Kapit (136 cases), Serian (124 cases), Marudi (103 cases), Limbang (102 cases), Bau (96 cases) and Samarahan (79 cases).

The report said Belian Lane and Tuong Aik Shipyard had been declared as areas of uncontrolled outbreak of dengue in Sibu.

For malaria, Marudi reported the most cases with 995 cases followed by Belaga (195 cases) and Bintulu (92 cases).

The chikungunya cases also recorded an increase during the first nine months of 2010 as compared to last year. There were 537 cases this year against 368 cases for the same period in 2009.

The top five districts with the highest number of reported chikungunya cases are Belaga (78 cases), Kuching (72 cases), Kapit (61 cases), Sibu (45 cases) and Bintulu (44 cases).

Credits to and source taken from: http://thestar.com.my/