Identification of trombiculid mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) on rodents from Chiloé Island and molecular evidence of infection with Orientia species.

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Gerardo Acosta-Jamett, Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito, Esperanza Beltrami, María Carolina Silva-de La Fuente, Ju Jiang, Allen L Richards, Thomas Weitzel, Katia Abarca
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic; Austral; Pacific; Chiloé; Mite
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007619; https://doaj.org/article/aed122cd2f79467da76ff6a463d04185

BACKGROUND:Scrub typhus is an emerging vector-borne zoonosis, caused by Orientia spp. and transmitted by larvae of trombiculid mites, called chiggers. It mainly occurs within a region of the Asia-Pacific called the tsutsugamushi triangle, where rodents are known as the most relevant hosts for the tr...