- Annual Fluctuation in Chigger Mite Populations and Orientia Tsutsugamushi Infections in Scrub Typhus Endemic Regions of South Korea
-
Seong Yoon Kim, Byoungchul Gill, Bong Gu Song, Hyuk Chu, Won Il Park, Hee Il Lee, E-hyun Shin, Shin-Hyeong Cho, Jong Yul Roh
-
Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2019;10(6):351-358. Published online December 31, 2019
-
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2019.10.6.05
-
-
8,914
View
-
225
Download
-
9
Crossref
-
 Abstract
 PDF
-
Objectives
Chigger mites are vectors for scrub typhus. This study evaluated the annual fluctuations in chigger mite populations and Orientia tsutsugamushi infections in South Korea.
Methods
During 2006 and 2007, chigger mites were collected monthly from wild rodents in 4 scrub typhus endemic regions of South Korea. The chigger mites were classified based on morphological characteristics, and analyzed using nested PCR for the detection of Orientia tsutsugamushi.
Results
During the surveillance period, the overall trapping rate for wild rodents was 10.8%. In total, 17,457 chigger mites (representing 5 genera and 15 species) were collected, and the average chigger index (representing the number of chigger mites per rodent), was 31.7. The monthly chigger index was consistently high (> 30) in Spring (March to April) and Autumn (October to November). The mite species included Leptotrombidium pallidum (43.5%), L. orientale (18.9%), L. scutellare (18.1%), L. palpale (10.6%), and L. zetum (3.6%). L. scutellare and L. palpale populations, were relatively higher in Autumn. Monthly O. tsutsugamushi infection rates in wild rodents (average: 4.8%) and chigger mites (average: 0.7%) peaked in Spring and Autumn.
Conclusion
The findings demonstrated a bimodal pattern of the incidence of O. tsutsugamushi infections. Higher infection rates were observed in both wild rodents and chigger mites, in Spring and Autumn. However, this did not reflect the unimodal incidence of scrub typhus in Autumn. Further studies are needed to identify factors, such as human behavior and harvesting in Autumn that may explain this discordance.
-
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by  - Changes in seasonality and sex ratio of scrub typhus: a case study of South Korea from 2003 to 2019 based on wavelet transform analysis
Jeehyun Kim, Penelope Vounatsou, Byung Chul Chun
BMC Infectious Diseases.2024;[Epub] CrossRef - Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile
María Carolina Silva de la Fuente, Caricia Pérez, Constanza Martínez-Valdebenito, Ruth Pérez, Cecilia Vial, Alexandr Stekolnikov, Katia Abarca, Thomas Weitzel, Gerardo Acosta-Jamett, Jessica N. Ricaldi
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.2023; 17(1): e0011051. CrossRef - Comparison of Chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae, Leeuwenhoekiidae) on Two Sibling Mouse Species, Apodemus draco and A. ilex (Rodentia: Muridae), in Southwest China
Yu Guo, Xian-Guo Guo, Wen-Yu Song, Yan Lv, Peng-Wu Yin, Dao-Chao Jin
Animals.2023; 13(9): 1480. CrossRef - Epidemiological characteristics of cases with scrub typhus and their correlation with chigger mite occurrence (2019–2021): A focus on case occupation and activity locations
Se‐Jin Jeong, Jin‐Hwan Jeon, Kyung won Hwang
Entomological Research.2023; 53(7): 247. CrossRef - Prevalence of chigger mites and Orientia tsutsugamushi strains in northern regions of Gangwon-do, Korea
Soojin Kim, In Yong Lee, Sezim Monoldorova, Jiro Kim, Jang Hoon Seo, Tai-Soon Yong, Bo Young Jeon
Parasites, Hosts and Diseases.2023; 61(3): 263. CrossRef - Infestation and distribution of chiggers on the Anderson's white‐bellied rats in southwest China
Yu Guo, Xian‐Guo Guo, Pei‐Ying Peng, Yan Lv, Rong Xiang, Wen‐Yu Song, Xiao‐Bin Huang
Veterinary Medicine and Science.2023; 9(6): 2920. CrossRef - Seroprevalence and Genotypic Characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi in Febrile Pediatric Patients Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospital of Chennai, South India
Rajagopal Murali, Sivasambo Kalpana, Panneerselvam Satheeshkumar, Prabu Dhandapani
Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology.2023; 17(4): 2232. CrossRef - Infestation and seasonal fluctuation of chigger mites on the Southeast Asian house rat (Rattus brunneusculus) in southern Yunnan Province, China
Yan Lv, Xianguo Guo, Daochao Jin, Wenyu Song, Peiying Peng, Hao Lin, Rong Fan, Chengfu Zhao, Zhiwei Zhang, Keyu Mao, Tijun Qian, Wenge Dong, Zhihua Yang
International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites .2021; 14: 141. CrossRef - Nationwide Incidence of Chigger Mite Populations and Molecular Detection of Orientia tsutsugamushi in the Republic of Korea, 2020
Min-Goo Seo, Bong-Goo Song, Tae-Kyu Kim, Byung-Eon Noh, Hak Seon Lee, Wook-Gyo Lee, Hee Il Lee
Microorganisms.2021; 9(8): 1563. CrossRef
|
