Distribution of rats infected with Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (scrub typhus) in an edge habitat
Muul, I.; Chai, K.S.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 9(4): 489-493
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0125-1562 PMID: 751214 Document Number: 130311
No focalization of rats (Rattus tiomanicus and R. argentiventer) infected with Rickettsia tsutsugamushi could be discerned over a 500 m trapping transect at the border between a forest and lalang grass (Imperata cylindrica). R. tiomanicus appeared to occupy 250 m of the transect on the average and had periods during which infections were observed which averaged 97 days. Calulations indicated that more than 50% of individuals become infected over their life-time. The high rate of infection in this and other areas described in earlier publications and the habits of the rats suggest that infected mites are densely and widely dispersed in the areas studied in Malaysia.