Novel vector of scrub typhus in subantarctic Chile – evidence from human exposure

Weitzel T., Silva-de la Fuente M.C., Martínez-Valdebenito C., Stekolnikov A.A., Pérez C., Pérez R., Vial C., Abarca K., Acosta-Jamett G.

Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciab748 (2021).

S U M M A R Y

The exposure of a research team to chigger mites in southern Chile allowed the first identification of a trombiculid species as vector and reservoir of scrub typhus outside the tsutsugamushi triangle, providing unique insights into the ecology and transmission of this recently discovered rickettsial infection in South America.