Larval chigger mites collected from small mammals in 3 provinces, Korea.
A total of 9,281 larval chigger mites were collected from small mammals captured at Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (Province) (2,754 mites from 30 small mammals), Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do (3,358 mites from 48 mammals), and Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do (3,169 for 62 mammals) from April-November 2009 in the Republic of Korea (= Korea) and were identified to species. Leptotrombidium pallidum was the predominant species in Hwaseong (95.8%) and Asan (61.2%), while Leptotrombidium scutellare was the predominant species collected from Jangseong (80.1%). Overall, larval chigger mite indices decreased from April (27.3) to June (4.9), then increased in September (95.2) and to a high level in November (169.3). These data suggest that L. pallidum and L. scutellare are the primary vectors of scrub typhus throughout their range in Korea. While other species of larval chigger mites were also collected with some implications in the transmission of Orientia tsutsugamushi, they only accounted for 11.2% of all larval chigger mites collected from small mammals.
Department of Environmental Medical Biology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
In-Yong
IY
Lee
Department of Clinical Pathology, Gwangju Health College, Gwangju 506-701, Korea.
Hyeon-Je
HJ
Song
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Yeon-Joo
YJ
Choi
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Sun-Hye
SH
Shin
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Min-Kyung
MK
Choi
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
So-Hyun
SH
Kwon
Division of Medical Entomology, National Institute of Health, Osong 363-951, Korea.
E-Hyun
EH
Shin
Division of Medical Entomology, National Institute of Health, Osong 363-951, Korea.
Chan
C
Park
5th Medical Detachment, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, USA.
Heung-Chul
HC
Kim
Public Health Command Region-Pacific, Camp Zama, Japan.
Terry A
TA
Klein
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Kyung-Hee
KH
Park
Institute of Global Disease Control and Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Won-Jong
WJ
Jang
D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology*; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012377:Rodentia; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000382:microbiology*; D014324:Trombiculidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000382:microbiology*
Apodemus agrarius; Leptotrombidium pallidum; Leptotrombidium scutellare; chigger index; chigger mite