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scrub typhus n TSUTSUGAMUSHI DISEASE
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a disease, widely distributed in SE Asia, caused by the parasitic microorganism Rickettsia tsutsugamushi and transmitted to humans through the bite of mites. Only larval mites of the genus Trombicula are involved as vectors. Symptoms include headache, chills, high temperature (104°F), a red rash over most of the body, a cough, and delirium. A small ulcer forms at the site of the bite. Scrub typhus is treated with tetracycline and other broad-spectrum antibiotics. See also rickettsiae, typhus.
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an acute infectious disease resembling epidemic typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted by the bite of infected mite larvae (chiggers) of the species Trombicula. It occurs chiefly in Asia and the southern and western Pacific, and is characterized by a pathognomonic primary cutaneous lesion or eschar (tache noire) at the site of inoculation, with regional lymphadenopathy, fever, and a maculopapular rash. Called also island, Japanese flood, Japanese river, or tsutsugamushi fever; and mite-borne or tropical t., as well as by many local names.Medical dictionary. 2011.