He was ravenous and was about to tuck into his food when his appetite took a sudden dip upon spying a rat scurrying across the floor of his favourite restaurant.
It was the first time student, Saiful Amier Saari, 23, saw a rat in the restaurant despite frequenting the outlet, located in Shah Alam, near here, almost daily.
"Friends did tell me about their encounters with rats there but I did not pay much heed as the outlet is quite clean. But I no longer eat there after seeing one myself," he told Bernama in an interview.
Society is sure to associate rats with rat urine disease or leptospirosis which quickly grabbed public attention after the death of radio deejay Mior Ahmad Fuad or Din Beramboi.
Incidents of rat urine disease is also getting more coverage and the government is scheduled to launch a major campaign on rat control on Aug 24 to raise awareness on the health threat posed by the vermin.
On Sunday, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahalan said the campaign would be held simultaneously nationwide.
Malaysian Public Health Specialists Association (PPPKAM) vice-president Dr Othman Warijo said it was hard to detect the rat urine disease early because some regarded fever, diarrhea and vomiting as normal illnesses.
"The situation becomes serious when infection takes place causing jaundice which damages the liver and lungs and this can be fatal," he said.
He clarified that rats acted as carriers to several germs including the Leptospira interrogans bacteria which multiplied in the bladders of rats, dogs, horses, goats, mousedeer and deer.
"The disease spreads via water, and other than drinking water, it can also take place if a person has a cut and bathe or steps foot in waterlogged areas contaminated by the bacteria," he said.
To overcome the problem, Dr Othman said the public must be concerned about cleanliness at home, commercial premises or when selecting an outlet to eat in and to ensure utensils such as spoons, forks, saucers and cups were properly cleaned.
"Lovers of canned drinks should wash the cans first before taking a sip for fear of contamination as they can be stored for a prolonged period, and as they also accumulate dust," he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Operators (Presma) president Noorul Hassan Saul Hameed regretted the fingers pointed at restaurant owners when the issue of rats cropped up as the problem was seen as the responsibility of all.
"Rats can be found in markets, housing areas and other shops if the level of cleanliness is not satisfactory. There are also incidents whereby restaurants are clean but rats come from other shops," he said.
He added that restaurant owners endeavoured to ensure their premises did not become 'food heaven' for rats because they did not want their income to be affected as they had paid dearly for their trading licences and rental of shop lots.
He said Presma would cooperate in any campaign to eradicate rats but hoped the effort would be carried out continuously and were not seasonal in nature.
"The people of Malaysia should be united on the issue of cleanliness and turn it into a culture which will automatically overcome the proliferation of rats," he said.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) president Datuk N. Marimuthu said consumers must be firm in selecting food outlets and lodge complaints to the relevant agencies if they were dirty.
"Consumers want value for the money they spend. Normally, I will survey the toilets of a restaurant as the personality of the owner can be determined from their level of cleanliness," he added.
- BERNAMA
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