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OCCURRENCE OF ORIENTIA TSUTSUGAMUSHI IN SMALL MAMMALS FROM THAILAND

Extensive sampling of small mammals was conducted in eight provinces of Thailand between September 9, 1992 and April 29, 2001. A total of 3,498 specimens representing 22 species were collected. Eighty-eight percent (3,089 of 3,498) of the animals were collected from a region in Chiangrai Province, which is commonly recognized as endemic for human scrub typhus. Blood and tissue samples from each animal were tested for the presence of Orientia tsutsugamushi, the etiologic agent of scrub typhus. The predominant species collected were Rattus rattus (53%, n = 1,863), R. losea (18%, n = 638), Bandicota indica (16%, n = 564), and R. exulans (4%, n = 146). Orientia tsutsugamushi was detected in 10 of the 22 species of mammals that included R. bukit (25% infected, 1 of 4), R. rattus (23%, 419 of 1,855), R. argentiventer (22%, 5 of 23), R. berdmorei (22%, 2 of 9), R. losea (13%, 82 of 638), B. indica (9%, 52 of 564), R. koratensis (8%, 1 of 12), B. savilei (3%, 1 of 30), R. exulans (1%, 2 of 146), and Tupaia glis (2%, 1 of 49). Infected animals were found in Chiangrai (18% infected, 563 of 3,084), Bangkok (11%, 1 of 9), Sukothai (3%, 1 of 30), and Nonthaburi (1%, 1 of 69) Provinces. The implications towards scrub typhus maintenance and transmission are discussed.

Received April 20, 2002. Accepted for publication March 3, 2003.

Acknowledgments: We thank Siriporn Mungviriya and Warisa Leepitakrat for assisting with data entry.

Financial support: Funding for this project was provided by the Military Infectious Diseases Research Program of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD).

Disclaimer: The opinions of assertions contained in this manuscript are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as the official or reflecting views of the Department of Defense or the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences.

Authors’ addresses: Russell E. Coleman, Taweesak Monkonna, Panita Tanskul, Inkam Inlao, Nittaya Khlaimanee, and Kriangkrai Lerdthusnee, United States Army Medical Component, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, 315/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok, 10400 Thailand. Kenneth J. Linthicum, California Department of Health Services, Ontario, CA 91764. Daniel A. Strickman, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Stephen P. Frances, Australian Army Malaria Institute, Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, Brisbane, Queensland 4051, Australia. Thomas M. Kollars, Jr., Entomological Sciences Program, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010. Pochaman Watcharapichat, Duangporn Phulsuksombati, and Noppadon Sangjun, Research Division, Royal Thai Army Component, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.

Reprint requests: Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, 315/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.