By Muhammad Luqman Sohail and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sawar Khan
Water is life, rightly said but why we forget that it is being called life not only for the human beings but also for so many of other micro and macro level living beings sharing this planet and ecosystem with us. For last few years one disease we have been coming across routinely is dengue, which is considered to be water borne infection. But we must not forget the other organisms which feel at home in water and spread rapidly because of water and humidity. One of very important bacterial organism which is considered to be the resident of running and stagnant, clean and dirty water is Leptospira Interrogans. This organism is commonly found in water and marshy areas, causing disease in almost every mammal on planet with humans, being no exception. This organism has been reported to be present in fish and in snakes even, which depicts the broad spectrum of hosts it can be the threatening guest of. In Pakistan, this organism has been reported in pet dogs and cattle, which have the potential to disseminate this organism in human beings coming in close contact with the infected animals.It is a very important zoonotic disease through out the world.Zoonosis attributes to those diseases which are transmissible to humans from animals.
This disease holds the potential to transmit from infected animals to the suspected human population and vice versa. The humans working with dead or alive infected animals like veterinarians, animal handlers, butchers, are at higher risk of getting infection. Apart from these professionals, the people working in muddy and moist environment for the extended period of time like agriculture workers,paddy growers and fish handlers also holds a fair risk of getting infection more readily.
This disease has been declared as number one occupational disease by New Zealand government and has been placed among six diseases with respect to climate change. As it has been stated and proven that this infectious agent is spread by water no matter clean or dirty, the changing patterns of rainfall, melting of glaciers, frequent flooding for the past few years in Pakistan are fueling the fire of its spread. In our neighboring countries like India and Iran outbreaks of this disease in animals and humans have been recorded just after flooding, which arise the need to study this disease in our country as well.
Recently, a study has been conducted to estimate the prevalence of this disease in working and sports horses of rural and urban areas of different climatic regions of Punjab i.e; Rawalpindi, Lahore and Bahawalpur. These three regions differ in their annual average rainfall, and showed varying amount of disease present in these cities. Results showed highest percentage of infected horses in Rawalpindi, followed by Lahore and least in Bahawalpur, which is correlated with the amount of rainfall these regions experience throughout the year with Rawalpindi receiving the highest rainfall and Bahawalpur the least. It has been observed during the study that stagnant water on the construction sites in the study area and poor sewerage system added on the prevalence of disease. When humans of the areas have been screened for the Leptospira Interrogans, it has been found that every second human who is in contact with the infected horses is infected by the clinical or subclinical disease himself. This study further revealed that exposure to wild animals like wild pigs, jackals, snakes contribute to the spread of disease in human beings.
As climate pattern has been changing throughout the past decade and floods we have been experiencing on somewhat regular basis bring our attention the spread of this threatening disease which has caused deaths in different countries. Poor sewerage system and no proper disposal of rain water add to the misery. We must not leave aside this important zoonotic infection presence in Pakistan and needs to address it in the best interest of public health. Along with other diseases, Leptospiosis must not be ignored for the preventive measures and public awareness campaigns for the better health of our animals and people.