Fatal scrub typhus from Litchfield Park, Northern Territory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.1996.20.70Keywords:
scrub typhus, Rickettsia tsutsugamushi, Litchfield ParkAbstract
A 38 year old man died with multiorgan failure from scrub typhus (infection with Rickettsia
tsutsugamushi). His infection was acquired in the rainforest fringes of Litchfield National Park,
Northern Territory. This is the eighth documented case of scrub typhus acquired in Litchfield
National Park since it was first recognised as a focus of infection in 1990. To date the Park is the
only known focus of scrub typhus in the Northern Territory. A possible focus in rainforest in the
Kimberley region of northern Western Australia also exists. As tourism increases, other remote
foci of vectors, endemic rodent hosts and rickettsiae may be recognised in northern Australia.
Comm Dis Intell 1996;20:420-421.
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References
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