34 cases of scrub typhus infection reported in Mizoram

Aizawl: At least 34 cases of scrub typhus infection have been reported from Haulawng village in Mizoram's Lunglei district, officials said. State Nodal officer of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Dr Pachuau Lalmalsawma told PTI that a team of doctors was sent to Haulawng village where at least 34 cases of scrub typhus infection have been reported but no death have taken place due to the infection. Scrub typhus is a mite-borne disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi (formerly Rickettsia tsutsugamushi).

Symptoms are fever, a primary lesion, a macular rash, and lymphadenopathy. Lalmalsawma said the first case of scrub typhus infection was reported from Haulawng village in southern Lunglei district during early part of this month. Earlier, one person died and 81 people were infected with scrub typhus in Aizawl district's Phullen and surrounding villages like Luangpawn, Thanglailung and Zawngin in December last year. Over 1,000 people were infected with the scrub typhus of which 35 people have died since 2012, the state Health department record said.