| Abstract: | Scrub typhus infection is now known to occur in geographical and ecological areas where its presence was hitherto unsuspected—north and west of the Indus River and in south-eastern Siberia; in semi-desert, montane desert, and alpine terrain high in the Himalayas, as well as in primary jungle. Additional data are presented to support the hypothesis that “ecological islands”, containing basically similar faunas of rodents and ectoparasites, exist on scattered mountains in the Pakistan Himalayas, despite the intervening “barriers” of desert, broad rivers and massive peaks. Since scrub typhus has been demonstrated in some of these isolated areas, it is felt that the infection may exist, unrecognized, in neighbouring countries as well. |
