Diversity of spp. in Rats and Environment from Urban Areas of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Various prevalence studies on in animals and humans, as well as environmental samples, had been conducted worldwide, including Malaysia. However, limited studies have been documented on the presence of pathogenic, intermediate, and saprophytic in selected animals and environments. This study was therefore conducted to detect spp. in rats, soil, and water from urban areas of Sarawak using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. A total of 107 rats, 292 soil samples, and 324 water samples were collected from April 2014 to February 2015. Pathogenic was present in 5.6% (6/107) of rats, 11.6% (34/292) of soil samples, and 1.9% (6/324) of water samples. Intermediate was present in 2.7% (8/292) of soil samples and 1.9% (6/324) of water samples. Saprophytic was present in 10.3% (11/107) of rats, 1.4% (4/292) of soil samples, and 0.3% (1/324) of water samples. From this study, 76 spp. were isolated. Based on DNA sequencing, the dominant spp. circulating in urban areas of Sarawak are pathogenic , intermediate serovar Khorat, and saprophytic , respectively. Overall, this study provided important surveillance data on the prevalence of spp. from rats and the environment, with dominant local serovars in urban areas of Sarawak.