Jakarta looks for its own pied piper

Jakarta looks for its own pied piper

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Most people would agree that rats are annoying. In Jakarta and
other urban areas, they are notorious as destroyers of washing
machines and electric wires.

But the main reason why people detest the pest is that it can
carry various kinds of diseases, such as rabies and
leptospirosis, as well as fleas.

Leptospirosis, which has killed nine people in Jakarta since
last month, was first detected in 1886 in Germany.

Deputy head of Tarakan hospital Sutirto Basuki told The
Jakarta Post on Saturday that the last case of leptospirosis in
Jakarta was in 1980. "There was one or two patients who were
infected, but they could be saved," he said.

The disease was carried by rats after the devastating floods
that hit the capital recently, Sutirto said.

"Leptospire bacteria are found in rat urine and blood. The
bacteria could live for a month in dirty water," he said.

There are still six people being treated at the hospital, one
person in a critical condition.

People could get the disease by consuming food or drink
contaminated by the bacteria.

Some of his patients, however, were infected when they cleaned
their houses and gutters after the flood.

Therefore, Basuki warned people not to kill rats without
wearing gloves or boots since the bacteria could enter the body
through cuts or other wounds.

"It's too risky. People must not have direct contact with the
bacteria," said Basuki, who has treated 18 of the 27
leptospirosis patients in the city.

People here started to eradicate rats several days ago after
they learned about the disease from the media. Without wearing
gloves or boots, they killed any rats they found in their
neighborhoods.

The Indonesian National Encyclopedia says there are 154 types
of rat found across the country.

Basuki said all species could carry leptospire bacteria which
caused the disease.

Rats usually live in dirty and humid places. They could be
found in the villages and in the cities -- in paddy fields, in
the gutters, on the roof, in the garbage.

With many slums here and hundreds, or even thousands, of
traditional markets, rats fare well in the city.

The markets produce piles of garbage everyday, but the city
sanitation agency does not transport all the waste to dump sites.

At the Senen market, for example, the agency deploys a garbage
truck to take the trash once every three days, said Anto, a
vendor in the market.

Piles of garbage are also found in many residential areas.

On Friday, Governor Sutiyoso declared war against rats,
calling the residents to eradicate the rodents. Unfortunately, he
failed to provide clear information about the safe way to do so,
including the fact the bacteria-carrying rats were potentially
deadly.

The administration only warned residents not to use poison as
it could cause environmental damage.

Basuki said the best way to terminate rats is by burning them,
otherwise, fleas could survive and cause other problems, like
itching and skin diseases.

The campaign to terminate rats might reduce the population,
but it will be impossible to make the city free of rats.
Therefore, it would be more important for the people to pay more
attention to sanitation and to making dwellings impervious to
rats.

Many other animals, like cats, cows, dogs, chicken and rabbits
and even insects can also carry the bacteria, but the possibility
is small.