Rats, it’s an epidemic problem

THE son, a college student, of a good friend of mine is down with leptospirosis. At a time when our prime minister has made several promises to transform our country into a “high income nation”, and as we chase after billions of ringgit in investments to make the federal capital a towering business centre of glass and mortar, we need to take stock of the epidemic levels of rodents and communicable diseases in our midst.

Leptospirosis – known to be spread by the urine of rodents and other domesticated and wild animals – is common in third world countries. But while Malaysia, which is being pumped up to become a first world and high income nation, is being threatened with leptospirosis and tuberculosis, we need to stop and get educated on some serious issues.