Historical epidemics of scrub typhus in Queensland and Papua New Guinea

Undifferentiated febrile diseases (e.g., Mossman fever) from northern Queensland were eventually partially attributed to mite‐transmitted rickettsial infections known as scrub typhus or tsutsugamushi fever. Scrub typhus became a major medical threat to military operations in Papua New Guinea during...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Internal medicine journal 2023-08, Vol.53 (8), p.1501-1505
Main Author: Shanks, G. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics
Epidemics
Fever
historical epidemiology
military
Occupational diseases
Orientia tsutsugamushi
Papua New Guinea
Queensland
Scrub typhus
Typhus
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Summary:Undifferentiated febrile diseases (e.g., Mossman fever) from northern Queensland were eventually partially attributed to mite‐transmitted rickettsial infections known as scrub typhus or tsutsugamushi fever. Scrub typhus became a major medical threat to military operations in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War and killed more Australian soldiers than malaria in the pre‐antibiotic era. Further investigations showed scrub typhus to be an occupational disease of rural workers in north Queensland especially around Cairns and Innisfail. Occasional small epidemics of scrub typhus still occur during military exercises in Queensland, but as scrub typhus is not a reportable disease, its presence in the civilian community is largely unknown. Increased use of serological testing in patients with fever and rash illnesses after exposure in northern Queensland is likely to show that scrub typhus is a modern infection that remains treatable with antibiotics once it is identified.
ISSN:1444-0903
1445-5994
DOI:10.1111/imj.16199