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.