The Health department has issued an alert against scrub typhus in Kozhikode following the death of a woman from Ward 10 (Pavu Vayal) in Koyilandy municipality.
Officials said the woman died while undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, and her samples later tested positive for scrub typhus. Following the confirmation, health and municipal authorities tightened preventive measures. The surroundings of the deceased patient’s residence were cleaned, and samples were collected from rats for testing.
Health department authorities urged people to exercise caution. The disease, caused by a bacterium called Orientia tsutsugamushi, does not spread from person to person. It spreads to humans through the bites of infected chiggers, the larval stage of mites.
Bites from chiggers, mites
People usually contract the disease when bitten by chiggers present on animals such as rats, squirrels, rabbits, mongooses and other small animals. As disease-carrying mites are increasingly entering human habitats, cases are being reported even among people with no direct link to forests or agricultural activities, officials said.
