Orientia is a genus of bacteria in family Rickettsiaceae. They are obligate intracellular, gram-negative bacteria found in insects and mammals. They are spread through the bites or feces of infected insects.

Orientia
Orientia tsutsugamushi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Pseudomonadota
Class: Alphaproteobacteria
Order: Rickettsiales
Family: Rickettsiaceae
Genus: Orientia
Species

The genus comprises the species Orientia tsutsugamushi and Orientia chuto, which both cause scrub typhus in humans.[1][2][3]

Candidatus Orientia chiloensis

edit

Orientia chiloensis is a possible new species of Orientia identified as such by a highly divergent type-specific antigen gene.[4]

In Chile scrub typhus is known to occur in the southern half of the country and in particular Chiloé Island and the fjords and channels of Patagonia. Between 2015 and 2020 there was a total of 40 known cases in Chile with much of the people affected reporting to work in gathering and cutting firewood.[5] According to Chilean scientist Katia Abarca the disease in Chile corresponds to an endemic variety of the bacteria and has thus not arrived from the "Tsutsugamushi Triangle".[5] The fact that the disease was first reported in 2006 in Chile is likely the result of under-diagnosis and underreporting.[5] In January 2020, the disease was for the first time reported in Chile's southernmost region.[5] Based on a study in northern Chiloé Island mites living in rodents are thought to be reservoirs and vectors of the disease.[6]

References

edit
  1. ^ "New Orientia tsutsugamushi Strain from Scrub Typhus in Australia". Retrieved 2008-11-20.
  2. ^ LSPN lpsn.dsmz.de
  3. ^ Izzard, L (2010). "Isolation of a novel Orientia species (O. chuto sp. nov.) from a patient infected in Dubai". J Clin Microbiol. 48 (12): 4404–4409. doi:10.1128/JCM.01526-10. PMC 3008486. PMID 20926708.
  4. ^ Abarca, Katia; Martínez-Valdebenito, Constanza; Angulo, Jenniffer; Jiang, Ju; Farris, Christina R.; Richards, Allen L.; Acosta-Jamett, Gerardo; Weitzel, Thomas (2020). "Molecular Description of a Novel Orientia Species Causing Scrub Typhus in Chile". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 26 (9): 2148–2156. doi:10.3201/eid2609.200918. PMC 7454112. PMID 32818400.
  5. ^ a b c d González, C. (January 29, 2020). "Una bacteria presente en ácaros causa un raro tipo de infección en el sur". El Mercurio (in Spanish). p. A9.
  6. ^ Acosta Jamett, Gerado; Martïnez-Valdebenito, Constanza; Beltrami, Esperanza; Silva-de La Fuente, María Carolina; Jiang, Ju; Richards, Allen L.; Weitzel, Thomas; Abarca, Katia (2020-01-23). "Identification of trombiculid mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) on rodents from Chiloé Island and molecular evidence of infection with Orientia species". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 14 (1): e0007619. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007619. PMC 6999909. PMID 31971956.
edit