WAILUKU, Maui — State health officials are planning to hold community meetings in East Maui after a pig hunter in Hana contracted leptospirosis, the first case of the bacterial infection on the Valley Isle in eight years.

The man became ill in late December and was hospitalized for several days but recovered, said Dr. Lorrin Pang, Maui district health officer with the state Department of Health. The source of the illness was just confirmed last week.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. Humans become infected through contact with water, food or soil containing urine from infected animals such as cattle, wild pigs and rats.

The last reports of leptospirosis contracted on Maui occurred in 1999, when there were three cases, one each at 'Iao Valley in Wailuku and the 'Ohe'o Pools in Kipahulu, and a third at an unknown stream.

Disease investigators are at a loss to explain why the disease should surface now after years of no reports. When the Health Department has conducted routine testing of rodents and mongooses, Maui has been found to have a much smaller rate of leptospirosis infection than other islands, said Erick Cremer, vector-borne surveillance coordinator for the department's Disease Investigation Branch.

Pang said, "We could have missed it, so either (the new case) is a fluke or a freaky thing, or it's on the rise."

Roughly half of the leptospirosis cases in the United States occur in Hawai'i, where residents and visitors are drawn to idyllic waterfalls and mountain pools that may be contaminated. Also at risk are campers, hunters, taro and prawn farmers, construction workers and others who spend a lot of time outdoors.

There have been nine fatalities from leptospirosis contracted in Hawai'i since 1990. The last known death occurred in 2004, when a college student from the Big Island fell ill on the Mainland following a trip home during which he hiked and swam in freshwater pools.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.