The Tomb Sweeping Festival is fast approaching. When people sweep a grave and make an offer to ancestors, they often need to go into bush areas where chiggers multiply. Therefore, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control （Taiwan CDC） urges the public to take precautions against scrub typhus when sweeping graves.

According to the analysis of epidemic data from past years, the distribution of scrub typhus cases has covered all counties and cities in Taiwan with the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu and the mountainous counties of Hualian and Taitung being the high risk areas. Scrub typhus cases are reported throughout the year in Taiwan, which usually begin to increase during April and May and peak in July.

Scrub typhus is transmitted by chiggers. The chiggers like to stay at the tips of the weeds, waiting for an opportunity to attach to passing humans or animals. Therefore, the chance of becoming infected with scrub typhus is much higher when people walk through bush areas. After being bitten by the chigger, an eschar will form over the bite, and the incubation period ranges from 9 to 12 days. Subsequently, symptoms such as high fever, headache, conjunctival congestion and swelling or inflammation of the lymph gland will begin to develop. After having had fever for about 1 week, a dark red papule will appear in the trunk, spread to extremities, and disappear after several days. If scrub typhus is not treated properly, its mortality rate can be as high as 60%

As the Tomb Sweeping Festival is upon us, Taiwan CDC would like to remind the public to take precautions against scrub typhus. Scrub typhus transmission occurs most frequently in people visiting chigger-infested areas such as bush areas. Some of the prevention measures for scrub typhus include avoiding unnecessary visits to bush areas, and wearing protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts and pants and applying insect repellents to exposed skin to prevent chigger bites when visiting bush areas. If suspicious symptoms develop, please seek medical advice immediately and inform the doctor of your travel history to serve as a reference for clinical diagnosis.

For more information on scrub typhus, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922, or 0800-024582 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.