Leptospirosis with Pulmonary Hemorrhage, Caused by a New Strain of Serovar Lai: Langkawi

Leptospirosis is an important ubiquitous zoonosis, most common in humid subtropical and tropical regions, caused by pathogenic strains of Leptospira inferrogans. Leptospirosis is mainly an occupational infection associated with handling of animals or contact with their urine, soil or water. Portals of entry are abraded skin and mucous membranes. Exposure to fresh water, and also dry agriculture, such as banana or sugar cane cultivation, are risk factors. 1 Adventure activities, such as rafting, are increasingly the cause of exposure to pathogenic leptospires, but the following case illustrates that the less adventurous tourist may also become infected.