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KMID : 1143420200130140817
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Public Health Weekly Report
2020 Volume.13 No. 14 p.817 ~ p.831
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Geographical Distribution of Chigger Mites as Scrub Typhus Vectors in the Republic of Korea, 2019
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Song Bong-Goo
Lee Wook-Gyo
Lee Hee-Il
Cho Shin-Hyeong
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Abstract
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Scrub typhus is an acute infectious febrile disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi with increased cases observed in
autumn. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The symptoms are fever, body
ache, headache, and sometimes rash. Annually, more than 4,000 scrub typhus cases are reported in Korea. Therefore, it is important to recognize any nationwide changes in the density and prevalence of chigger mites. To that end, this study
conducted a survey. The survey was conducted in 32 regions (160 locations) across Korea in April and November. A total of 49,301 mites representing 6 genera and 18 species were collected from 515 trapped rodents. Among the rodents, the majority were Apodemus agrarius (striped field mouse) (85%, n=437), The predominant chigger species was Leptotrombidium pallidum (53.9%, n=13,278), followed by L. orientale (13.2%, n=3,239), and L. scutellare (9.5%, n=2,348).
Leptotrombidium pallidum , confirmed as the dominant species, showed similar density in spring (April) and autumn
(November) at 55.1% and 53.1%, respectively. However, L. scutellare showed a relatively high share of 16.1% (n=2,341) in
autumn. In particular, the distribution of L. scutellare , known as the main vector for scrub typhus, expanded northward to
the central region of Korea, which was highly correlated with the cases of Scrub typhus patient occurrence in 2019. Thus,
the results required monitoring of chigger mites and further epidemiological analysis between patients and vectors.
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KEYWORD
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Scrub typhus, Chigger mites, L. scutellare, Density survey
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