J. Med. Entomol., 41(1), 107-114, 2004.

Mamoru Takahashi^*1, Hitoko Misumi^*1, Hiroshi Urakami^*2, Satoko Nakajima^*3, Sataro Furui^*3, Seigo Yamamoto, Yumiko Furuya^*4, Motohiro Misumi^*1 and Isao Matsumoto1.

^*1Saitama Medical School, ^*2Niigata College of Pharmacy,^*3Kyoto Prefectural Institute of Hygienic and Environmental Sciences, ^*4Kanagawa Prefectural Public Health Laboratory

Between 1983 and 1999, 27 human cases of scrub typhus (two fatal) occurred in the Nodagawa River basin of northern Kyoto, Japan, an area where no cases had been previously reported. Antibody screening of infected patients' sera showed that nine of 15 patients had high titers against the Gilliam type of Orientia tsutsugamushi (Hayashi).To determine the vector^nmite transmitting the disease, we studied rodent and chigger populations in and near a rice field alongside the Nodagawa River between 1996 and 1999.