The Presence of Rat and House Sanitation Associated with Leptospira sp. Bacterial Infection in Rats (A Cross Sectional Study in Semarang, Central Java Province, Indonesia)

Abstract

The Gajah Mungkur sub-district in Semarang, Indonesia had highest leptospirosis cases (reported in human with seven infected and one dead) in 2015. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between house sanitation and density of rats with Leptospira sp. infection in rats. The study design was cross sectional observational analytic. The number of 308 trapswere placed in study sites over three consecutive nights afterwards. Every houses were placed with four traps, inside and outside. Trapped rats were anesthetized with atropine dose from 0.02 to 0.05 mg/kg body weight of rats continued with Ketamine HCL dose of 50-100 mg/kg body weight of rats by injecting in the thick thigh muscle of it. After that, identification of rats by species and gender then continues with surgery in which a kidney sample was taken to confirm the presence of bacteria Leptospirasp using PCR techniques. The trap installed in 77 houses which later had further observation on house sanitation which includes the existence of a pile of used goods, food storage, garbage can, and the presence of the ceiling, windows and other ventilation.Data was analyzed using distribution frequency and bivariate chi-square test. We had 100 rats captured with live traps as the samples.The proportion of Rattusnorvegicuswas 27% (14.8% positive Leptospira sp.infection) and Rattustanezumi 73% (11%positive Leptospira sp.infection). The proportion of male and female rats were almost equal. The statistic test result was significant between the density of rats (p = 0.0001, OR 12.833, 95%CI: 1.565-105.261) and sex of rats (p = 0.019, OR 0.095, 95%CI: 0.012-0.769) with Leptospira sp. infection in rats. The number of rats may increase the infection of Leptospirasp., especially female rats and poor condition of house sanitation. It is recommended to improve house sanitation and regularly trapping rats.