Clinical and Epidemiological Studies on Rickettsial Infections

摘要

Essentially all of our time this year was spent in research on the ecology of murine typhus, and the findings continue to support our hypothesis that this rickettsiosis deeply involves: (1) indoor commensal murines or other small mammals (theraphions) which behave as a peridomestic species, such as Suncus shrews; (2) their ectoparasites such as fleas, lice and perhaps mesostigmatid mites; and (3) hyperendemic minifoci or microfoci, wherein a large proportion of the commensal mammals and fleas and lice in a highly restricted locus, such as a single building (or even a rat-nest) are naturally infected with Rickettsia moseri, the etiological agent of murine typhys. The data from the continuing studies in Burma complement and extend our earlier investigations in Ethiopia.