Health in Malaysia
Leptospirosis is a water contract disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospirabacterial. It is a disease that affects both humans and animals. The number of leptospirosis cases had steadily increased from 2011 (2,268 cases with 55 death) to 2015 (8,291 cases with 78 death) and 5,284 cases with 52 death in 2016. Leptospirosis can have important health impact and is a burden to the nation if not well controlled. Addressing leptospisoris includes maintain a clean environment and by not swimming or wading in water that might be contaminated with animal urine, or eliminating contact with potentially infected animals.
Hymenoscyphus fraxineus
Initially, small necrotic spots (without exudate) appear on stems and branches. These necrotic lesions then enlarge in stretched, perennial cankers on the branches, wilting, premature shedding of leaves and particularly in the death of the top of the crown. Below the bark, necrotic lesions frequently extend to the xylem, especially in the axial and paratracheal ray tissue. The mycelium can pass through the simple pits, perforating the middle lamella but damage to either the plasmalemma or cell walls was not observed. The disease is often chronic but can be lethal. It is particularly destructive of young ash plants, killing them within one growing season of symptoms becoming visible. Older trees can survive initial attacks, but tend to succumb eventually after several seasons of infection.
There are currently no effective strategies for managing the disease, and most countries which have tried to control its spread have failed. The removal of trees in infected areas has little effect as the fungus lives and grows on leaf litter on the forest floor. Research at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences suggests that the deliberate destruction of trees in an infected area can be counterproductive as it destroys the few resistant trees alongside the dying ones. One approach to managing the disease may be to take branches from resistant trees and graft them to rootstock to produce seeds of resistant trees in a controlled environment. A Lithuanian trial searching for disease-resistance resulted in the selection of fifty disease-resistant trees for the establishment of breeding populations of European ash in different provinces of Lithuania. The process of restoring the ash tree population across Europe with resistant trees is likely to take decades.