ˌ(t)sütsəgəˈmüshē- noun
Etymology: Japanese tsutsugamushi scrub typhus mite, from tsutsuga sickness + mushi insect
: an acute febrile disease resembling louse-borne typhus originally known from Japan but widely distributed in the western Pacific area and caused by a rickettsia ( Rickettsia tsutsugamushi or R. orientalis ) transmitted by larval mites (especially Trombicula akamushi ) that also occur on several voles which act as reservoir hosts of the infection — called also scrub typhus