Numbers of 'Leptotrombidium (Leptotrombidium) deliense' (Acarina: Trombiculidae) and Prevalence of 'Rickettsia tsutsugamushi' in Adjacent Habitats of Peninsular Malaysia.

摘要

Numbers of L.(L.) deliense larvae were determined in adjacent habitats over a 16 month period. Both R. argentiventer and R. tiomanicus were highly efficient hosts for L.(L.) deliense. R. argentiventer was host to significantly greater numbers of chiggers per rat than was R. tiomanicus. The 2 habitats were similar in numbers of chiggers collected. No consistent correlation was apparent between numbers of chiggers and any single weather factor, but the chigger population seemed to be adversely affected by a 2 month period during which total evaporation greatly exceeded total rainfall. Direct fluorescent antibody examination of tissues from unfed L.(L.) deliense showed that 2 of 420 larvae (0.5%) contained organisms morphologically resembling R. tsutsugamushi.