Scrub typhus pneumonitis acquired through the respiratory tract in a laboratory worker

We report a case of scrub typhus pneumonitis in a Laboratory worker who app arently acquired it through the respiratory tract. The patient was sufferin g from fever, cough and dyspnea. He had both cervical and axillary Lymphade nopathy, and hepatomegaly, A chest X-ray showed interstitial infiltrates. A diagnosis of scrub typhus was established upon isolation of Orientia tsuts ugamushi, 12 days before the patient showed symptoms, he had purified O. ts utsugamushi proteins from infected cells using an ultrasonication method wh ich could generate aerosols containing O, tsutsugamushi.