On Monday, the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry said that the Regional Government of the Azores is preparing legislation to address the threat that rodents pose to agriculture in the Azores.

Whilst presenting the results of the study "Epidemiology and Control of Leptospirosis in the Autonomous Region of the Azores", Noé Rodrigues assured that the legislation that has been adopted is innovative.    He added that his new policy, by promoting the adoption appropriate of norms, procedures and behaviours
will enable the authorities to "combat rodents in a more consequential and assertive manner."

Speaking about the recently completed epidemiological study, Noé Rodrigues said that government specialists and state financing were central to the elaboration of the five-year study, undertaken under the auspices of the Agreement for Co-operation and Defence between Portugal and the United States of America.

Noé Rodrigues extolled the performance of government specialists that participated in the research project  and said that its principal objective was to ascertain the present situation, evaluate the risks of the transmission of this disease to humans and animals and obtain new knowledge to improve diagnostic 
capacities and the prevention and control of this disease.

The aforementioned study, in conjunction with other initiatives already undertaken by the Regional Government of the Azores, will enable the authorities to monitor rodents in an integrated manner as well as providing treatment to infected animals and inform the public of health risks associated with the disease. Several outreach programmes have been put in place in primary schools and elsewhere to provide young people  and the general public with information about the disease and how it can be prevented.

With regard to the involvement of the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry in this research project, Noé Rodrigues highlighted "its importance for the agricultural and forestry sector and the need to insure  and protect the economic growth of these sectors"

The  Secretary reminded that the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry has put in place policies to combat rodents, such as providing every farmer and parish with rodenticide bait so as to reduce its nefarious effects to the local population, such as the contraction of leptospirosis.

According to the Regional Secretary, this study "is an innovative research project of great public value" given that the social representation of this infection is a "serene but permanent threat" that affects such simple acts as touching soils and dipping one's hands in a water tank.

Miguel Correia said that this research project has enabled the authorities to identify those parts of the Azorean population that are under the greatest risk of contracting the disease as well as learning about the means of communication that are most effective in outreach efforts.

The Secretary for Health said that the main clinical manifestations of the disease were investigated as well as the diagnostic means that are appropriate to each phase of the infection.