Detection of <i>Orientia</i> spp. Bacteria in Field-Collected Free-Living <i>Eutrombicula</i> Chigger Mites, United States
Kaiying Chen, Nicholas V. Travanty, Reuben A. Garshong, Dac Crossley, Gideon Wasserberg, Charles S. Apperson, R. Michael Roe, Loganathan Ponnusamy
Abstract
Scrub typhus, a rickettsial disease caused by Orientia spp., is transmitted by infected larval trombiculid mites (chiggers). We report the molecular detection of Orientia species in free-living Eutrombicula chiggers collected in an area in North Carolina, USA, to which spotted fever group rickettsiae infections are endemic.
Topics & Concepts
Orientia tsutsugamushiScrub typhusBiologyTrombiculidaeLarvaVirologyEcologyVector-borne infectious diseasesStudy of Mite SpeciesViral Infections and Vectors