1.Bacterial isolation of oral, rectum and anus swabs from Macaca fascicularis and Macaca namestrina in Kemasul, Pahang, Malaysia
Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib ; Mohd Faiz Mohd Yusoff ; Izzah Nadhirah Mohamed Zain ; Asmalia Md Lasim ; Rosha Asyikha Mohd Sham ; Wan Syaidatul Aqma
Malaysian Journal of Microbiology 2018;14(6):590-595
Abstract
This study was conducted with the aim of isolating and identifying pathogenic bacterial communities from actively shedding anatomical sites of Macaca fascicularis and M. namestrina in Jambu Rias (JR) and Chemomoi (CM) in Kemasul Forest Reserve, Pahang and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of these isolates. The findings show that M. fascicularis had higher bacterial density and ten different isolates were identified from these samples. The antibiotic susceptibility tests determined that ciproflaxin and vancomycin as most effective antibiotic towards these isolates.
2. Susceptibility of Aedes albopictus from dengue outbreak areas to temephos and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis
Ahmad MOHIDDIN ; Wan Fatma ZUHARAH ; Asmalia Md LASIM ; Wan Fatma ZUHARAH
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2016;6(4):295-300
Objective: To monitor the current duration of the application rates in vector programme and the level of Aedes albopictus larvae susceptibility from three selected areas in northeast district of Penang on two selected larvicides, temephos and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) which are commonly used by Penang Health Department for vector control. Methods: The mosquito larvae were tested against two types of larvicides: (1) temephos (Abate
3.Leptospirosis: An insight into community structure of small mammal’s host in urban environment
Mohd-Taib, F.S. ; Ishak, S.N. ; Yusof, M.A. ; Azhari, N.N. ; Md-Lasim, A. ; Md. Nor, S. ; Mohd-Sah, S.A. ; Neela, V.K.
Tropical Biomedicine 2020;37(No.1):142-154
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira and most often acquired through contact with environments contaminated with leptospires shed in the urine of infected mammals. In urban environment, rodents are well-known as the main carriers of this bacteria, however there were no intensive study on the population structure of these animals, and how it associated with this disease. Hence, we use a case study from an outbreak in a residential area in Selangor, Malaysia, to investigate how community structure of small mammals, associated with the prevalence of Leptospira. One hundred cage traps were placed randomly in and around these houses in five phases with two months interval for a year. Community structures (species, sex, and age) were assigned for each individual, prior to screening for pathogenic Leptospira, using a partial lipL32 gene from the kidney samples. 185 small mammals from four species were captured, Rattus norvegicus (74.5%, N=138), R. rattus (20%, N=37), Tupaia glis (5%, N=9), and Suncus murinus (0.5%, N=1). From this number, 29 individuals were found PCR positive for pathogenic Leptospira (R. norvegicus, N=20; R. rattus, N=6; T. glis, N=2; S. murinus, N=1). The study shows that Leptospira occurrence in the small mammals were significantly correlated to age category and sampling phases, with Spearman Correlation (rs) p=0.02 and p=0.04 respectively. Adult individuals were significantly more prevalent with Leptospira infection, whereby March and June were found to associate with higher Leptospira prevalent among the small mammals, potentially coincide with low rainfall and relative humidity level. This information is important in designing a specific control method for rodents in Leptospira outbreak areas. In addition, intensive sampling and regular cleaning effort were found to significantly reduce the small mammal Leptospira reservoir, thus should be implemented in intervention strategies in the urban environment.