title: Seroepidemiological study of leptospirosis among the communities living in periurban areas of Sarawak, Malaysia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Leptospirosis is endemic to tropical regions of the world and is re-emerging as a new danger to public health in Malaysia. the purpose of this particular study was to determine the common leptospiral serovars present in human communities living around wildlife reserves/disturbed forest habitats. the objective of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis and finding infecting serovars in villages surrounded habitats where wildlife lives in Sarawak, Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional serological survey of 198 humans was conducted in four villages around Kuching, Sarawak between January 2011 and March 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A seroprevalence of 35.9% (95%cI 29.2-43.0) to the MAt was detected in the tested humans. Antibodies to serovar Lepto 175 Sarawak were most commonly detected (31.3%; 95%cI 24.9-38.3) and were detected in individuals at all four locations. the presence of skin wounds (Or 3.1), farm animals (Or 2.5) and rats (Or 11.2) were all significantly associated with seropositivity in a multivariable logistic regression model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the results of the current study are important as wildlife may act as reservoirs of leptospires for humans. Health authorities should expand disease control measures to minimise the spill-over from wildlife to humans visiting, living or working in the sampled locations. the pathogenic status of serovar Lepto 175 Sarawak also requires further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Murdoch University, Collage of Veterinary Medicine, 90, South street Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia. thayaan@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thayaparan
authors.affiliation: Murdoch University, Collage of Veterinary Medicine, 90, South street Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fairuz
authors.affiliation: UNIMAS, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Suut
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Public Health Center for Asia Pacific, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin.
authors.forename: U C
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Gunasekera
authors.affiliation: Centre for Kenyir Ecosystems Research, Institute for Kenyir Research, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Abdullah