ID#: 23546
Caption:
Entitled Epidemiology of Scrub Typhus, this illustration depicts the life cycle of mites of the genus Trombicula and the mechanisms by which they transmit disease to humans. Humans are bitten by the immature larval-stage mites, commonly known as chiggers, which serve as vectors of the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus. Larvae acquire the organism while feeding on infected natural hosts, typically rodents. Once infected, the bacterium is maintained through the mite’s developmental stages (interstadial transmission), from larva to nymph to adult. Infected adult females can also transmit the bacterium to their offspring via transovarial transmission, producing infected larvae that are capable of infecting new hosts. Humans are considered incidental or accidental hosts in this transmission cycle.
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Content Provider(s): CDC/ Dr. J.R. Gorham
Creation Date: 1967
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