Distribution and morphological measurements of wild and urban rodents from four habitats in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

A total of 204 rodents comprising of 14 species were identified from four different habitats namely urban, forest, paddy field and coastal. The Gombak forest reserve habitat was found to be ideal for the survival of 11 different rodent species. Maxomys rajah, Leopoldamys sabanus and Sundamys muelleri were the predominant rodent species distributed in the Gombak forest. Rattus ratus diardii was found mainly in the urban, paddy field and coastal habitat (67.1%). Morphological measurements of the rodents trapped from the four habitats did not show any major changes

An overview of nematodes infecting urban and wild rats (Muridae) in Malaysia

Rodents particularly those belonging to the Muridae family in Malaysia have been well studied because of their medical and economic importance. Much of the work on rodents has been focusing on the identification of endo and ecto parasites. Parasites in rats (Murids) particularly helminthes belonging to the Nematoda family have been described by many workers for more than a century. This paper is an attempt to compile 50 papers on rodent nematodes that has been published in various scientific journals over the last 100 years in Malaysia. It is hoped that this literature overview on rodent nematodes will come useful as a reference material for the budding parasitologist and biology scientist

Factors Associated with Emergence and Spread of Cholera Epidemics and Its Control in Sarawak, Malaysia between 1994 and 2003

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました。Cholera is a water and food-borne infectious disease that continues to be a major public health problem in most Asian countries. However, reports concerning the incidence and spread of cholera in these countries are infrequently made available to the international community. Cholera is endemic in Sarawak, Malaysia. We report here the epidemiologic and demographic data obtained from nine divisions of Sarawak for the ten years from 1994 to 2003 and discuss factors associated with the emergence and spread of cholera and its control. In ten years, 1672 cholera patients were recorded. High incidence of cholera was observed during the unusually strong El Niño years of 1997 to 1998 when a very severe and prolonged drought occurred in Sarawak. Cholera is endemic in the squatter towns and coastal areas especially those along the Sarawak river estuaries. The disease subsequently spread to the rural settlements due to movement of people from the towns to the rural areas. During the dry seasons when tributary gravity fed tap waters cease to flow, rural communities rely on river water for domestic use for consumption, washing clothes and household utensils. Consequently, these practices facilitated the spread of water borne diseases such as cholera. The epidemiologic and demographic data were categorized according to ethnic group, gender, occupation, and age of the patients. Large outbreaks occurred in north Sarawak (Bintulu, Miri, and Limbang) rather than the central (Kapit, Sarikei, Sibu)and south (Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman). The indigenous people, the Orang Ulu and the Iban live in longhouses built along the rivers in the low-lying areas. Whereas the Malays live in coastal areas that eat traditional uncooked seafood causing frequent water-borne infections. Data analysis showed a high incidence of cholera among low-income laborers and rural house wives as opposed to the well paid workers from government and private sectors. Infants and non-school children were 15% of the cases. This suggests household transmission widely occurs. Two cholera cases infecting cooks in a school canteen revealed poor hygiene during food preparation resulting in 229 infections of school children. The majority of the patients were the active adult group from 19 to 59 years. This finding was typical of many food-borne outbreaks where adults gathered to attend festive parties or funeral feasts. Various intervention activities and preventive measures such as surveillance, quarantine, treatment, monitoring and improving community sanitation, and health education of poor communities were performed by the Health Department and the local authorities during and after the major 1997-99 epidemics. These measures effectively prevented the emergence and spread of further epidemics

Genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia

More than a year after its first appearance in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic is still on a rampage in many parts of the world. Although several vaccines have been approved for emergency use, the emergence and rapid spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants have sparked fears of vaccine failure due to immune evasion. Massive viral genome sequencing has been recommended to track the genetic changes that could lead to adverse consequences. Methods We sequenced SARS-CoV-2 respiratory isolates from the National Public Health Laboratory, Malaysia and examined them together with viral genomes deposited in GISAID by other Malaysian researchers, to understand the evolutionary trend of the virus circulating in the country. We studied the distribution of virus lineages and site-wise mutations, analysed genetic clustering with the goeBURST full Minimum Spanning Tree algorithm, examined the trend of viral nucleotide diversity over time and performed nucleotide substitution association analyses

Linkage disequilibrium suggests genomic stability in Omicron clades of SARS-CoV-2 from the ASEAN countries

After more than 2 years of pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2, COVID-19 is still a national concern in many countries worldwide. One of the key investigations is to understand the factors contributing to the evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV2 as a pathogen. Currently, almost all countries have lifted border control orders and have allowed inter-country travel with minimal restrictions. This provides better resolutions on genomic patterns and the evolution of circulating SARS-CoV-2 in each community with the influence of imported strains. In this report, we surveyed genomes of SARS-CoV-2 strains circulating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. This project serves as a collaborative effort from the ASEAN Member States that had participated in the programme ‘Strengthening Laboratory Capacity on COVID-19 Bio Genomic for ASEAN Countries