Posted on 11/25/2010 3:15:58 PM PST by nickcarraway
By newsdesk@thestar.com.my
POOR sanitation, waste management and damaged drains are causing a rodent population explosion in the Klang Valley and the problem is becoming serious.
It was reported last month that there are about 4.4 million rats in Kuala Lumpur alone — that is two rats for each Kuala Lumpur dweller.
Malaysia Pest Control Association president Ang Tan Loong said the rat population had multiplied tremendously over the years caused by poor sanitation and waste management.
Proud lot: Some children showing a rat they caught during a clean-up campaign held in Pandan Jaya recently. “We estimate that the population has escalated in the past five years. The number of complaints that we have been receiving have shown a drastic increase,” he said recently.
According to Ang, various groups including owners of houses, shoplots and factories have blamed Klang Valley’s poor drainage system as the main cause.
“This definitely warrants more attention from the local authorities and cooperation from the public to fight the rats,” he said.
Another cause of concern is rat-borne diseases such as leptospirosis which is also expected to increase.
According to a study published by the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, rats have been identified as the main cause of leptospiral infection in livestock and humans.
The Health Ministry had reported 62 deaths and 1,418 cases of infection due to leptospirosis last year.
Based on patient admission to government hospitals, there has been an increase from two cases for every 100,000 people in 2006 to five for every 100,000 last year.
Fatalities due to leptospirosis was at 4.2% in 2006, 2.3% (2007), 3.7% (2008) and 4.4% (2009).
Human leptospiral infection primarily resulted from direct or indirect exposure to the urine of infected rats.
The disease came to light when six people involved in a search and rescue mission to save a drowning victim in the Lubuk Yu recreational area in Maran, Pahang, died of suspected melioidosis and leptospirosis infection in July.
Foreign experts say that the control of the rat population is critical in preventing outbreak of leptospirosis.
The disease will be listed as requiring notification under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.
Ang said control methods such as poison and traps were no longer effective.
“It has to get down to the rat burrows. It won’t work until we get down to the source of the problems,” he added.
Klang MCA youth chief Ching Eu Boon acknowledged that the rat population had increased tremendously to affect the whole of Selangor.
He said the issue was brought up during the state youth meeting two months ago following a complaint by a leptospirosis victim.
Ching said he was informed that the rat population in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur had increased 40% since last year.
“We received many complaints from Klang residents that rats are even burrowing in playgrounds in housing areas,” he said.
Ching added that the MCA had carried out several gotong-royong in Bukit Tinggi and Pandamaran recently with residents to clean up their places and had caught a number of rats.
Israel should export their cat population...
That’s nothing! There is a HUGE RAT menace in the Potomac Valley and it is completely out of control.
60% of the residents of Malaysia are Muslim.
Muslims and rats go good together.
I’d gladly trade our rats for their rats.
I’d even take two of theirs for one of ours.
From the Monty Python “Dead Bishop on the Landing” sketch,
“What’s for afters?”
“We got rat pudding, rat pie, rat cake, rat sorbet, and strawberry tart.”
“Does it have any rat in it?
“Well, it does have some rat in it.”
“How much?”
“Oh, three or four. Rather a lot, really.”
“Alright, I’ll have one piece of strawberry tart without too much rat in it.”
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