ALOR STAR: The Lata Bayu Recreational Park will
remain open to the public in spite of a leptospirosis incident involving a student after picnicking at the park.
State Health director Datuk Dr Norhizan Ismail said such an approach
was no longer a practice as open spaces such as the park would always
be exposed to leptospirosis bacteria and hence would be hard to
control.
"The taking of water samples and shutting down are no longer common
practices or approaches that will be taken, owing to the fact that the
park is an open space that will always be exposed to leptospirosis
bacteria from wild animals and rats.
"However, there are improvements that need to be made. Checks by the
Baling district health office found that the waste water disposal from
the food stalls was not satisfactory and needs to be improved.
"The level of cleanliness has to also be upped," he said in a statement today.
Dr Norhizan said further checks found that the warning sign "Risiko
Penyakit Leptospirosis" at the park has been damaged and needs to be
replaced.
He also advised those with diabetes, kidney disease as well as other
illnesses that lower the body's immunity to not visit such parks as
the risk of being infected was high.
"Avoid playing with water or swimming if there are wounds on the skin.
If you have to be exposed to water, cover those wounds with water
proof plasters.
"Remember to clean the whole body with clean water and soap after
playing with water or swimming, and also please always use clean and
safe water to drink or wash food and equipment," he added.
It was learnt that Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) student
Mustaqim Yusof, 22, came down with fever and experienced severe
vomiting on Friday, two weeks after he and his 15 friends had gone to
the park in Baling, Kedah for a swim on Sept 16.
Other early symptoms of leptospirosis infection includes
headaches, muscle aches, eye pain with bright lights, chills and fever, and red watery eyes.
Leptospirosis is bacterial infection usually transmitted by the urine
of infected animals and failure to diagnose or treat it promptly could
lead to death.
Mustaqim, if confirmed to be infected by leptospirosis, would not be
the first victim to have contracted the water-borne virus at Lata Bayu
in the past five years.
It was reported that Lata Bayu had been closed for a month in 2013
after a man died while his five siblings fell ill due to leptospirosis
after they gone for a picnic at the recreational park.
Inspection also showed that the park had also been closed in 2010 after few
people reported to have come down with the virus.