Accession Number:

ADA552035

Title:

Endemic Scrub Typhus-like Illness, Chile

Descriptive Note:

Journal article

Corporate Author:

NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER SILVER SPRING MD

Personal Author(s):

• Balcells, M. E.
• Rabagliati, Ricardo
• Garcia, Patricia
• Poggi, Helena
• Oddo, David
• Concha, Marcela
• Abarca, Katia
• Jiang, Ju
• Kelly, Daryl J.
• Richards, Allen L.
• Fuerst, Paul A.

Report Date:

2011-09-01

Pagination or Media Count:

6.0

Abstract:

We report a case of scrub typhus in a 54-year-old man who was bitten by several terrestrial leeches during a trip to Chiloe Island in southern Chile in 2006. A molecular sample, identified as related to Orientia tsutsugamushi based on the sequence of the 16S rRNA gene, was obtained from a biopsy specimen of the eschar on the patients leg. Serologic analysis showed immunoglobulin G conversion against O. tsutsugamushi whole cell antigen. This case and its associated molecular analyses suggest that an Orientia-like agent is present in the Western Hemisphere that can produce scrub typhus-like illness. The molecular analysis suggests that the infectious agent is closely related, although not identical, to members of the Orientia sp. from Asia.

Descriptors:

• *RICKETTSIACEAE
• *SCRUB TYPHUS
• CHILE
• REPRINTS

Subject Categories:

• Medicine and Medical Research
• Microbiology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE