ectoparasites diversity on rodents and shrews at scrub typhus endemic vellore district of tamil nadu, india

Background: rodents and shrew living in the vicinity of human beings perform significant role to harbor different speciesof ectoparasites and thus act as the reservoir host for the spread of diseases to human and animals.methods: this study was undertaken to determine the species composition of the medically important ectoparasitespresent in the scrub typhus affected places of vellore district using wonder and sherman traps for trapping of live rodent/shrew during september 2017 to august 2018.results: rodent/shrew hosts belonged to two families, three sub families and five genera and five different species.these animals carried 23 species of ectoparasites including 17 trombiculid mites, two non-trombiculid mites, two ticksand two fleas. a total of 940 chigger mites were collected which belonged to three tribes, six genera, two subgeneraand 17 species. adult mites collected belonged to two families, three genera and three species. ticks collected wereclassified under one family, two genera and two species. fleas fall under one family, one subfamily, one tribe, one genusand two species.conclusion: this is the first record of 14 species of chigger mites and three species of adult mites from vellore district,tamil nadu. surveillance of these keystone ectoparasites helped to identify the medically important disease vectorscausing acari-borne zoonotic diseases.