BITE OF WAR

Scrub typhus caused thousands of cases in the Far East during World War II after soldiers were exposed to chigger bites in forest areas. An estimated 36,000 either died or were incapacitated, and the disease’s overall mortality — 7-9% — was second only to malaria among infectious diseases. Epidemics occurred in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and more than 2,000 East African and British soldiers were infected at a base in the Maldives.

SOURCE: WHO