Journal of Medical Entomology (1994) 31, 225-230

Panita Tanskul, Daniel Strickman, Chirapa Eamsila and Daryl J. Kelly (1994)
Rickettsia tsutsugamushi in chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae) associated with rodents in central Thailand
Journal of Medical Entomology 31 (2), 225-230
Abstract: Chiggers were collected from rodents trapped at two military bases located 10 km apart in central Thailand. One site was swampy and nearly treeless and the other site was well-drained and partially wooded. Although 13 species of chiggers were collected, only three species were found to be positive for Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (Hayashi) Ogata using a direct fluorescent antibody test: Blankaartia acuscutellaris Walch (7.3% infected), Leptotrombidium deliense Walch (3.1% infected), and an undescribed species of Ascoschoengastia near A. indica Hirst (1.2% infected). This was the first record of R. tsutsugamushi in. The Ascoschoengastia species occurred with equal frequency at the two study sites, L. deliense occurred more frequently at the well-drained site, and B. acuscutellaris occurred more frequently at the swampy site. Results suggest that there are important foci of scrub typhus in central Thailand and that B. acuscutellaris may be a vector in this area.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rattus rattus		Thailand
	Rattus argentiventer		Thailand
	Bandicota indica		Thailand
	Leptotrombidium deliense		Thailand
	Rattus losea		Thailand
	Blankaartia acuscutellaris		Thailand