Detection of <i>Orientia</i> spp. Bacteria in Field-Collected Free-Living <i>Eutrombicula</i> Chigger Mites, United States

Abstract

Scrub typhus, a rickettsial disease caused by Orientia spp., is transmitted by infected larval trombiculid mites (chiggers). We report the molecular detection of Orientia species in free-living Eutrombicula chiggers collected in an area in North Carolina, USA, to which spotted fever group rickettsiae infections are endemic.