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Scrub Typhus in the Pescadores Islands: An Epidemiologic and Clinical Study

W. C. Cooper^*, J. C. Lien, S. H. Hsu AND W. F. Chen

Studies on scrub typhus conducted during 1962 in the Pescadores Islands revealed that a major mite vector for the disease is Leptotrombidium deliensis. Infected mites were found most often in cover provided by miscanthus and coral walls along field margins. The shrew, Suncus murina, was the host most commonly infested with infected mites. Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus rufescens were less important sources. The percentage of infected mites appeared to increase until late summer, then to decline, and to increase again in November. However, the data are insufficient to permit a definite conclusion concerning seasonal cycles.

Five of 103 reported cases of scrub typhus in 1962 were studied. Rickettsia orientalis was isolated from whole blood of all five patients. None of them had skin rash, but in other respects their illness was similar to established clinical descriptions of the disease as it occurs in Southeast Asia.

^* Lieutenant Commander, MC, USN, Department of Clinical Investigation, U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2.

Entomologist, Taiwan Provincial Malaria Research Institute.

Colonel, MC, Chinese Army, Department of Virology, U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2.

Research Fellow, Department of Virology, U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2.