scrub typhus
Last reviewed 01/2018
Scrub typhus is:
- a common disease in rural Asia and the western Pacific islands
- caused by Orientia (formerly Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi
- transmitted by infected larval trombiculid mites (chiggers)
The disease is common in people exposed occupationally to forests and scrubland. 1 billion of the world's population are exposed to the disease.
Scrub typhus has an incubation of six to eighteen days after which there is a course which is similar to other severe forms of typhus. The rash in this case appears on the fifth to the eighth day and is macular, begining on the trunk and spreading to the limbs. An eschar is usually present and is accompanied by lymphadenitis.