DISEASE, TSUTSUGAMUSHI

Scrub typhus, a mite-borne infectious disease caused by a microorganism, Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, characteristically with fever, headache, a raised (macular) rash, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) and a dark crusted ulcer (called an eschar or tache noire) at the site of the chigger (mite larva) bite. This disease occurs in the area bounded by Japan, India, and Australia. Known also as mite-borne typhus and tropical typhus.