Trombiculiasis [trom-bikʺu-liʹǝ-sis]
Infestation with mites of the family Trombiculidae (from the Greek tromein, “tremble,” and Latin culex, “gnat”) in their larval form (chiggers, from the Carib chico). A wide variety of livestock and wild animals, as well as humans, can become infested with chiggers (Figure). Trombiculid mites are vectors of Orientia tsutsugamushi, which causes scrub typhus. References to these mites appear as early as the sixth century in China. Linnaeus described the species Trombicula batatas in 1758.
Figure.
Photograph of a parasitic mite of domestic animals. Wikimedia Commons, Alan R. Walker, 2014.
Footnotes
Suggested citation for this article: Etymologia: Trombiculiasis. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Apr [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2604.ET2604
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