Guwahati: A man died after being infected with scrub typhus, a mite-borne disease, in Assam’s Darrang district on Friday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Hiren Saharia, resident of Dahi village in the district. It is situated 8km away from sub-district headquarter Mangaldoi.
Scrub Typhus is an infectious disease caused by the Orientia tsutsugamushi, a mite-borne bacterium.
It may be noted that chigger mites, the larval stage of mites, transmit the disease from rats, squirrels, rabbits and dogs.
The mite is usually present in shrubberies, and the disease is transmitted mostly during the rainy season and in winter.
The symptoms of scrub typhus are non-specific and resemble the symptoms of any other tropical fever, such as fever, headache and myalgia. The presence of a characteristic eschar (deep scab wound at the bite site) is the distinguishing clinical symptom of scrub typhus.
