The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Health and Environment Department is taking steps to avoid any possibly outbreaks of the flea-borne typhus (murine typhus).
The murine typhus is a disease transmitted to humans through infected fleas living on rats, resulting in high fever and rash. According to the department director Dr Chitra Davi N. Vadivellu, the threat was compounded when restaurants and residential areas dumped food waste indiscriminately, allowing the rat population to thrive.
“On an average, we trap or bait close to 100 rats a month in some areas. We do this as part of pro-active measures and not based on complaints,” she said.
“Our health inspectors are focusing on education and creating awareness on this disease among restaurant operators and the public.
“We want them to ensure waste is disposed of properly. This is one way of getting rid of the rats,” she said.
She added that high-fever is the most commons symptom from the bite of the Oriental rat flea (ORF) that carries the murine typhus bacteria. The flea-borne typhus is transmitted through flea bites, not from human to human. The endemic typhus can cause high fever for about 10 days. Although it is rarely fatal, the victim may need to be hospitalized.
“ORF are small, about one to four-millimetres long, reddish brown and flat in shape. It has no wings but its hind legs are so powerful that it can jump distances up to 200 times its body size.
“Indoors, they live under furniture, behind baseboards, under the edges of carpets, or in cracks between boards of hardwood floors. It feeds on flea dirt as well as dead skin and other organic debris. A ‘hungry’ adult flea that drops off from a rat can jump on to a host nearby and feed on the host’s blood,” said Dr Chitra.
Dr Chitra advises the public to practice the following to reduce the possibility of flea infestations:
• Removing food sources and store garbage in closed bins.
• Hire professional pest exterminators, and place baits or rat traps.
• Treat dogs and cats with anti-flea treatments and keep them from roaming freely.
[Source]
