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In December 1998, a 37‐year‐old Queensland woman died from a rabies‐like illness, 27 months after being bitten by a flying fox (fruit bat). Molecular techniques enabled diagnosis of infection with Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL), the second human case to be recognised and the first to be acquired from a flying fox. It must be assumed that any bat in Australia could transmit ABL; anyone bitten or scratched by a bat should immediately wash the wounds thoroughly with soap and water and promptly seek medical advice.

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A single Leptospira strain (designated Bejo-Iso9 T ) was isolated from a soil sample taken in Johor,Malaysia. The isolate showed motility and morphology typical of the genus Leptospira under darkfield microscopy. Cells were found to be 10-13 mm in length and 0.2 mm in diameter, with a wavelength of 0.5 mm and an amplitude of approximately 0.2 mm. Phenotypically, strain BejoIso9 T grew in Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris medium at 13, 30 and 37 6C, and also in the presence of 8-azaguanine. Serologically, strain Bejo-Iso9 T produced titres towards several members of the Tarassovi serogroup, but was found to be serologically unique by cross-agglutinin absorption test and thus represented a novel serovar. The proposed name for this serovar is Malaysia. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences placed this novel strain within the radiation of the genus Leptospira, with sequence similarities within the range 90.4-99.5% with respect to recognized Leptospira species. DNA-DNA hybridization against the three most closely related Leptospira species was used to confirm the results of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The G+C content of the genome of strain Bejo-Iso9 T was 36.2 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, serological and phylogenetic data, strain Bejo-Iso9

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